Wallonia water company SWDE has a massive investment plan to upgrade its network and adapt to climate change

Wallonia’s biggest water company has a massive investment plan to help secure the Belgian region’s future water needs and reduce its emissions.

It rains an average of 190 days a year in Belgium, but for the country’s thirsty households, farms and industries, that’s simply not enough. Residents might feel “water stressed” by the drizzle, but the country faces real water stress. It withdraws over 80% of its available water each year, a level that earns it a higher place in the World Resources Institute’s ranking of water-stressed countries than Namibia.

Despite its abundant natural resources, climate change, population growth, and industrial development have put immense pressure on Wallonia’s water supply. Summer 2022 was the region’s driest in 20 years. The taps went dry in several towns and villages, and water had to be distributed by truck.

According to a recent article in the scientific journal Nature, Belgium is among the countries most at risk from record heatwaves.

To ensure adequate water supply, the region’s largest water company, Société Wallonne des Eaux (SWDE), is undertaking a massive investment plan to upgrade its network, improve connectivity between different municipal networks, and adapt to Belgium’s changing climate.

“We produce over 1.6 million cubic metres of drinking water a year, but this consumes 100 GWh a year of energy,” says Bernard Pevee, an energy expert at SWDE. “We want to bring down our energy costs to ensure that water remains affordable for everyone and to cut our own greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2030.”

To meet this target, SWDE is looking to invest in additional solar power panels and purchase power agreements with wind farms. It also aims to protect biodiversity and improve its energy efficiency.

To finance these ambitions, SWDE turned to the European Investment Bank. In 2022, the company signed a €250 million loan, its fourth from the European Union’s financing arm in 16 years. Since a previous €200 million European Investment Bank loan was granted in 2016, SWDE has invested an average of €120 million a year without raising its prices for consumers.

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