Hitachi-Veolia-POSCO consortium breaks ground on sewage treatment expansion project in Vietnam

A consortium of Japanese company Hitachi, South Korean company POSCO Engineering & Construction and OTV, a subsidiary of French firm Veolia, has started construction on the expansion of the Binh Hung Sewage Treatment Plant in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

The consortium had received the $130m contract for the project from the Urban Civil Works Construction – Investment Management Authority of the city.

The government of Japan will offer loan assistance for the project, which is expected to increase the daily sewage processing capacity of the existing facility from 141,000m³ to 469,000m³.

The expansion project has been planned to meet the growing demands of industrial and domestic wastewater treatment in the city, which has a population of about 1.4 million.

After the planned completion of the project, the plant will turn in to one of the largest sewage treatment facilities in South East Asia.

Hitachi Infrastructure Systems Company vice president and executive officer and president & CEO Kunizo Sakai said: "Hitachi is honoured to be involved in the expansion work project to a large-scale sewage treatment facility in Ho Chi Minh City in collaboration with POSCO E&C and Veolia.

"Hitachi has an extensive track record and expertise in the delivery of water treatment plants throughout the world, and we look forward to contributing to the maintenance and improvement of the water environment in Vietnam by putting in place reliable water infrastructures."

Veolia Water Technologies executive vice-president for Africa, Middle-East and Asia Emmanuel Gayan said: "Our teams of water treatment experts work with local authorities to come up with the best possible solution to meet their needs, and we are honoured to have been entrusted by Ho Chi Minh City for this project, along with our partners Hitachi and POSCO E&C".

Hitachi and OTV had won another large-scale project last year for a desalination plant having daily capacity of 199,000m³, and pre-treatment facilities in Basrah, Iraq.