Sweden. Sydvatten AB

NIB has granted the uncommitted loan facility to finance investments to improve the drinking water infrastructure in west of Skåne, Sweden.

The loan would be available for a range of investments to replace outdated infrastructure, increase capacity and quality, as well as the connection of additional fresh water sources and reserve water supply to some of the municipalities in Skåne.

The investment program consists of a large number of smaller projects within the premises of Sydvatten. A large part of the investment relates to the Vomb water purification plant. The Vomb plant will be equipped with a new ultraviolet disinfection unit and upgrades to allow for a capacity increase from 1,500 litres per second to 2,000 litres per second

Other main investments relates to redundancy pipes in the larger network, among them the so-called third line from the Vomb plant to feed water to the network.

Another larger project is the connection of the municipality of Skurup to the main network, fed by water from the Bolmen Lake. Today, Skurup has ground water as its raw water source, which has a high content of carbonates, causing quality problems. The ground water aquifer also has capacity problems. Connecting to the main network will solve the problems and connect approximately 10,000 persons to the network.

Total project costs are SEK 1.41 billion and the projects are implement during 2019-2023.

Sydvatten AB produces drinking water for a population of approximately 900,000, and is today one of the largest water producers in Sweden. The company is fully owned by the 17 municipalities of western Skåne: Bjuv, Burlöv, Båstad, Eslöv, Helsingborg, Höganäs, Kävlinge, Landskrona, Lomma, Lund, Malmö, Skurup, Staffanstorp, Svalöv, Svedala, Vellinge and Ängelholm. 

The investments will support Sydvatten’s efforts to improve quality and security of fresh water supply in Skåne.

The region’s freshwater resources are vulnerable and therefore one has to continuously adapt and invest to enhance the water security, especially given the impact from climate change and population increase. When Sydvatten has secured the supply to the current partner municipalities, it is possible that there will be additional municipalities, as there are still several potential municipality shareholders in the region.

Expected productivity impact from the loan project:

• An increase in capacity from 1500 l/s-2000 l/s and improved water quality at the Vomb water purification plant.
• An increased in number of connections in Båstad and Skurup.

NIB has not identified any sustainability issues in the project.