Signature(s)
Summary sheet
- Water, sewerage - Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities
The operation will co-finance the ongoing Stockholm's wastewater collection and treatment investment plan for the period 2019-2031. The plan includes the construction of a wastewater collection tunnel and the upgrade and increase of capacity of the existing underground Henriksdal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) together with the Sickla facility that will treat the total sewage inflows of the city applying more advanced technologies.
The project will co-finance Stockholm's wastewater collection and treatment investment plan which focuses on the upgrade and increase of the treatment capacity of the existing underground Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs), located at Sickla (primary treatment) and Henriksdal (secondary and tertiary treatment and sludge treatment), which will treat the sewage inflows of the whole city applying more advanced technologies. The operation also includes a sewage collection tunnel, which after decommissioning the Bromma WWTP, will collect all sewage at the western part of the city and transfer it to the new upgraded plants. This operation will enable more water to be treated with better water quality results before it is discharged into the Baltic Sea. Thanks to the new sewage treatment system, Stockholm can address the needs of the population growth in the future and higher, much stricter environmental requirements.
The operation co-finances the on-going wastewater management programme of the City of Stockholm and the public utility responsible for wastewater collection and treatment in Stockholm and surrounding communities. It aims to ensure compliance with European and Swedish environmental standards and to improve significantly operational efficiency as well as resilience against stormwater overflows. The investment programme mainly consists of the construction of a new sewage collection tunnel and the upgrade and extension of the existing Sickla and Henriksdal underground treatment facilities that will treat the total sewage inflows of the city applying more advanced technologies.
The project aims to:
(i) maximise sewage collection and reduce stormwater overflows to Lake Mälaren through the construction of a new sewage tunnel,
(ii) adapt to climate change to ensure sufficient capacity of the collection network and the treatment facilities to accommodate heavy rainfall events;
(iii) improve the quality of the treated effluent by applying membrane bioreactor technology and thus ensuring the protection of the sensitive recipient marine ecosystem of the Baltic Sea.
The Project contributes fully to the Bank's policy objectives of Sustainable Energy and Natural Resources, to the EIBG Water Resilience Programme, as well as to Climate Action and Environmental Sustainability. The operation addresses a number of market failures through positive externalities in the form of environmental and public health benefits, improved quality of recipient waters and reduced greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater infrastructure. These benefits are not fully reflected in the applicable wastewater tariffs, and would not be realised to the same extent without public intervention.
The EIB financing will offer flexible terms with a favourable availability period offering the possibility to match the drawdown profile with the Project outflows as well as a long maturity. The loan will also provide the Borrower with diversification of their funding sources.
The project will allow the promoter to fully meet the requirements of the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (EU/2024/3019), and the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) recommendations WWTP's effluent, adopted by the HELCOM Contracting Parties in 2007 and updated in 2021. By reducing pollution of the receiving waters by outdated sewage treatment facilities, the project will have a positive impact on the immediate environment and the sensitive ecosystem of the Baltic Sea. The project falls under Annex I of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive 2011/92/EU as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU. According to the Promoter, the final EIA approval decision has been issued in 2019, the same year that the construction of the project started.
The Bank will require the promoter to ensure that contracts for implementation of the project have been tendered in accordance with the applicable EU procurement legislation, Directive 2014/23/EU / 2014/25/EU as well as Directive 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. Information on awarded main suppliers/contractors for the implementation of the envisaged operation is not available.