A6 ALMERE MOTORWAY PPP

The project concerns the widening (from 2x2 to 2x4 lanes) and improvement of the motorway near Almere (13.6 km). It is the third design-build-finance-maintain public-private partnership (DBFM-PPP) road scheme included in the much larger Schiphol-Amsterdam-Almere (SAA) transport investment programme, which involves major upgrade and widening works of four existing highways in the conurbation of Amsterdam, two of which are already awarded and financed by the Bank: A1/A6 Motorway PPP and A9 Gaasperdammerweg Motorway PPP.

The A6 project is located on the comprehensive TEN-T road network. The project aims to increase capacity and improve road safety on sections of the Dutch motorway and underlying road network with heavy traffic, and is being procured as a design-build-finance-maintain (DBFM) public-private partnership (PPP).

Compliance with the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive (2011/92/EU) for the project will be verified during appraisal. An environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) including public consultation (encompassing the complete SAA road corridor in which the project is included) was undertaken between 2006 and 2008, and an environmental impact statement ("MER") was issued in 2011. The A6 project is close to the Natura 2000 site of Oostvaardersplassen in the municipality of Lelystad. The potential impact of the A6 project on Natura 2000 and compliance with Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) and Birds Directive (79/409/EEC) will be verified during appraisal. The project will not involve population resettlement. Environmental impact during construction related to large linear civil infrastructure is expected. The most significant impact during operation will be noise/vibration and air pollution. Resilience to climate change has not been assessed, but the projects are located in polder areas below sea level which are properly managed. Environmental compensation measures are envisaged in the project. The tender's award criteria include environmental performance. Tenderers are required to obtain and submit a sustainability building certificate (encompassing CO2 emissions, use of environmentally-friendly materials, etc.) against which they will be scored. The environmental and social assessment and compliance with the Road Safety Directive (2008/96/EC) will be verified at appraisal.

The project will be implemented through a PPP – DBFM agreement with remuneration based on availability of the infrastructure and subject to performance deductions. The contract term will be construction plus operation period. The project is tendered under a competitive dialogue procedure, similar to the ones in previous deals financed by the Bank with the same procurement authority Rijkswaterstaat (RWS), which has extensive road PPP experience and is well known to the Bank from previous projects Second Coen Tunnel PPP, A12 Lunetten-Veenendaal PPP and A15 Maasvlakte-Vaanplein PPP. The procurement process will be reviewed in detail during appraisal and is expected to be deemed acceptable for the Bank. The Bank will require the promoter to ensure that contracts for the implementation of the project have been/shall be tendered in accordance with the relevant applicable EU procurement legislation (Directives 2004/18/EC and/or 2004/17/EC as well as Directives 89/665/EEC and 92/13/EEC) as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the EU, with publication of tender notices in the EU Official Journal, as and where required.

The total project cost is approximately EUR 230m.