Financing a Water-Secure Future
Water-link, which is an inter-municipal, integrated water company based in Antwerp, has been granted a green loan to finance a water-efficient future.
Water-link produces more than 160 million cubic meters of drinking water annually with customers including residential, industrial, and other drinking water companies. The utility services Antwerp as well as four surrounding municipalities. It is also responsible for sewerage management in Antwerp as well as 10 other municipalities.
Green loan financing the future
The green loan of EUR 46 million from BNP Paribas Fortis will be used to finance investments that promote the sustainability of water supply. Three categories of eligible projects are:
- Lowering energy costs and increasing security of supply: Water-link, which jointly manages the supply of drinking water with other water companies to ensure a balance between production and consumption, will invest in projects that reduce energy costs and increase the security of supply
- Digital water metering: Water-link will roll out 200,000 digital water meters to make it easier for consumers to monitor their consumption as well as reduce leakage. This will promote social awareness of the scarcity of water. The digital water meters will also prevent drinking water pollution by means of a blackflow alarm
- Maximizing the water network’s efficiency: Water-link will develop an intelligent control center in a new building in the production center Zuid in Walem. All IT systems will be bundled together by 2020 in order to achieve optimum management of production and distribution of water. This will allow for proactive leak detection, which enhances the efficiency of the maintenance of the water network. This will, in turn, lower energy consumption. In addition, due to the optimized monitoring of water quality, fewer chemicals will be required for water purification
The take-out
Green loans enable water utilities to invest in new technologies and systems that enhance operational efficiency, lower energy costs and increase the security of supply.
