Veolia signs a 30-year concession contract for the operation and management of the heat supply system in Tashkent

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – France’s Veolia has signed a 30-year concession contract for the operation, maintenance and management of the district heating system in the city of Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

This is the first contract signed with the Group in the country. This is in line with Veolia’s strategy, which intends, both in France and abroad, to offer local communities its vast experience and solutions to support their sustainable development and environmental transformation.

With a population of over 2.5 million, Tashkent is the capital of the Republic of Uzbekistan as well as its largest city. It owns the largest heating network, which provides heat and hot water to about 1.2 million inhabitants, that is, almost half of the city’s population. The system includes three large gas heating plants, more than 200 local boiler houses and 1,926 km of pipes, of which 73% are underground. Veolia will be responsible for its activities with revenue of 13.4 billion euros over a 30-year contract.

This contract is the first of its kind in the country and is based on a public-private partnership.

For 30 years, Veolia will provide:

- operation and maintenance of district heating and hot water systems

- an assessment of the district heating system and hot water facilities to determine what investments are required

- financing of the operating assets program

- project management.

Also, within two years, a pilot project will be implemented to modernize the heating system in two districts of the capital. Completion of the pilot project will launch an ambitious city-wide modernization program.

“This success in Tashkent is the first step for Veolia in Uzbekistan. The management of district heating systems for municipal consumers is one of the areas of our development in Central and Eastern Europe. I am delighted that today we are providing this service to a new capital in this strategic region,” said Antoine Frereau, Chairman and CEO of Veolia.

The goal of the Veolia group of companies is to become a benchmark company for the green transition. With nearly 179,000 employees on every continent, the Group develops and distributes actionable, concrete water, waste and energy management solutions that help bring about radical change. Through three complementary activities, Veolia expands access to resources, preserves existing resources and renews them. 

In 2020, the Veolia Group of Companies provided 95 million people with drinking water and 62 million with sanitation services; it generated nearly 43 million megawatt hours and processed 47 million tons of waste. Veolia Environnement (Paris Euronext: VIE) posted consolidated sales of €26.010 billion in 2020.