en.Wedoany.com Reported - French water and waste management company Suez has signed a €2 billion (approximately $2.28 billion) contract with Oman to operate and maintain water supply and wastewater treatment services in parts of the country for the next 15 years.
This contract, Suez's largest in the Middle East, was announced during the visit of Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq to France. The contract was awarded by Nama Water Services, Oman's water and wastewater services company, to a consortium comprising Suez, Omani partner National Trading Company, and National Energy Centre.
The contract covers Muscat, North Sharqiyah, and South Sharqiyah, collectively referred to as Cluster 1. According to an official Suez press release, this is a performance-based contract that will provide water supply and wastewater services to approximately 2.3 million people, representing about 43% of Oman's total population.
For water supply, the consortium will operate and maintain 240 wells and 10,700 kilometers of pipelines, distributing approximately 470,000 cubic meters of drinking water daily. The scope also includes refurbishing and upgrading four seawater desalination plants and managing over 400,000 smart water meters. In wastewater treatment, the consortium will operate and maintain 22 treatment plants with a total capacity of 280,000 cubic meters per day, while overseeing approximately 3,000 kilometers of sewage networks and 400 kilometers of reclaimed water transmission pipelines for recycled water supply. The contract also requires the installation and operation of new household sewage connection facilities.
The contract includes 33 key performance indicators to measure service quality, infrastructure performance, and operational efficiency, which will determine the consortium's compensation. Core objectives include reducing water loss from 34% to 11% by 2040, maintaining high-quality 24-hour water supply, and improving reliability and extending asset life through enhanced preventive maintenance.
Suez plans to deploy multiple digital water management technologies in the project, including Aquadvanced for optimizing water networks, Inflowmatics and iDroloc for advanced leak detection, and Sewerball for monitoring contamination and infiltration in sanitation networks.
Suez CEO Xavier Girre stated that the agreement demonstrates the company's experience in addressing water management challenges in structurally water-scarce markets. Nama Water Services will retain strategic oversight and governance of the services, while the consortium is responsible for daily operations. Within this framework, Suez will lead the management of water supply and wastewater services, National Trading Company will provide local market and investment expertise, and National Energy Centre will support smart utility technologies, digital transformation, advanced metering, and operational optimization.
According to Suez, the contract includes an Omanization commitment of over 83%, along with training, knowledge transfer, and domestic value requirements aligned with Oman Vision 2040. Oman is currently focused on reducing water loss and improving the efficiency of critical infrastructure to meet the demands of population and economic growth. Suez stated that the agreement will strengthen its business presence in the Middle East while helping enhance the long-term resilience and sustainability of Oman's water sector.
