AtkinsRéalis Group Inc. (TSX: ATRL), a world-class engineering services and nuclear company with offices around the world, is set to work with the UK’s largest listed water company to deliver a major environmental program that will provide cleaner rivers, more reliable water supplies and improvements to services.
United Utilities has appointed three design and development partners (DDP) in a contract worth a potential £90 million for each DDP over 11 years.
AtkinsRéalis’ local delivery teams will create detailed designs for schemes across United Utilities’ water and wastewater sites, as well as bio resource and rainwater management projects. This may include deploying new technology solutions such as its automated digital design capability to make designing new assets faster and more cost-effective.
The DDP appointments will support what United Utilities describes as the largest environmental program in the North West of England in over 100 years, forming part of its proposed investment plan for 2025-2030 - with regulator Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) set to make a final determination in December 2024.
“The global water market faces huge challenges from increased demand and the impact of climate change, which is why we have a laser-like focus on supporting the sector in order to provide a secure supply of clean drinking water,” said Ian L. Edwards, President and Chief Executive Officer, AtkinsRéalis. “Water companies in the UK are poised to make record levels of investment in infrastructure and asset management programs, which is where AtkinsRéalis can bring decades of design, engineering and project management experience to bear, as well as market-leading innovation from our local delivery teams.”
The role of the DDP will be to take concepts put forward by the strategic solutions team at United Utilities, to develop scalable, repeatable, and future-proof designs. They will work at speed, with the aim of improving efficiency of delivery and reducing operation and maintenance risk in the future.
“The water sector in the UK is of huge importance to our business and we look forward to working with United Utilities to help design and plan these essential new assets that are necessary to enhance the network and meet future challenges,” said Richard Robinson, President for UK & Ireland, AtkinsRéalis. “Our teams in the North West of England will bring best-in-class design and engineering skills to this important program. With a clear focus on improving efficiency and future-proofing new assets, we are able to introduce innovative digital solutions and skills to support that and speed up delivery of these urgently-needed assets.”
The framework is expected to run for five years initially, with an option to extend up to 11 years. United Utilities expects its overall proposed investment would support 30,000 jobs - including 7,000 new jobs across the water company and its wider supply chain in the North West.
