Veolia gets 10/10 and adds energy to its water offering
by Water Source
Veolia’s strong growth in Australia’s water sector continues unabated, with the company winning a perfect 10 out of 10 renewals and extensions in a row, securing over $1B in water utility contracts in the past 12 months.
This incredible run of wins has now confirmed Veolia as one of Australia’s largest private sector providers of water services, delivering 1.48 billion litres of safe drinking water to 3 million Australians. This is on top of treating a combined 660 million litres of wastewater, recycled water and industrial water.
Added to this are two recent wins with its customers for best tasting tap water in Victoria and Queensland’s best tasting pale ale, Madocke’s Bière de Mer, which employed the vital ingredient, desalinated water from the Gold Coast Desalination Plant, to produce the winning brew.
But Veolia is not one to rest on its laurels with a recent multi-sector contract pointing the way forward. In an Australian first, Veolia used its multi-sector expertise to deliver a water and energy contract for Central Highlands Water.
This was made up of a 15-year contract for six water treatment plants across the region, with a five year option, coupled with a sustainable energy contract for the first three years. The energy offering became possible after Veolia became a renewable energy gentailer in late 2025, which has allowed it to deliver B2B cost savings.
“The Central Highlands Water contracts highlight how inconsistencies across the utilities space can be overcome through the combined model Veolia offers,” said Veolia ANZ’s Chief Operating Officer – Water, Daniel Spiller.
“Water and energy contracts are often of different lengths and have different start and stop dates, but they don’t have to be. Forward thinking customers now have the opportunity to unify contracts and reduce the administrative workload while seeking cost savings.”
This combined energy and water contract is a logical extension of Veolia’s core business model that revolves around the idea of resource security across the three sectors that it operates in – water, energy and waste.
Where a single vendor can deliver solutions across all three sectors, it creates future opportunities for organisations to save costs through a single unifying tender process. This would be a game changer for efficiency and sustainability
While the combined approach offers an exciting future for customers, Veolia has continued its success in its traditional water-only contracts. Veolia recently won the Hunter Water contract for 10 years, with a potential five year extension. Hunter Water provides 800,000ML of drinking water, along with wastewater and recycled water treatment to a population of more than half a million.
It had previously held an 11-year contract with Hunter Water as the operator. That earlier contract saw Veolia’s Hubgrade platform reduce energy consumption by 18% at the Belmont Wastewater Plant and improved its resilience during storm events.
Veolia has also extended its Seqwater O&M Alliance contract for the Gold Coast Desalination Plant by 4 years. The Alliance has now got plans in place to add almost 2500 solar panels to the site, which will produce 2.32 GWh/yr of energy and reduce carbon emissions. The plant can produce up to 43GL of fresh drinking water every year, and has played a vital role providing drinking water during floods and natural disasters.
“These extensions have come about because our aim is always to leave our customer’s utilities better than we found them and to improve the skills and training of the local workforce,” said Spiller.
“That approach is a win-win for everyone and has led directly to our exceptional success. Put simply: Making our customers better, makes Veolia stronger as well, while leaving a legacy of a more sustainable Australia for future Australians, exactly as the theme of this year’s Ozwater theme suggests – Our Water, Our Tomorrow.”
Take a look at what's on offer at Ozwater'26 this week here.
