The Concessionária de Saneamento do Amapá (“CSA,” or the “Grantee”) invites submission of qualifications and proposal data (collectively referred to as the “Proposal”) from interested U.S. firms that are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to execute Technical Assistance which will support CSA in planning to deploy technologies and solutions to reduce non-revenue water across the state’s water distribution system (the “Project”). The Proposal submission deadline is November 15, 2024 at 4 p.m. Amapá local time (3 p.m. EDT). The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $672,500 grant to the CSA from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.
About the Grantee
The Concessionária de Saneamento do Amapá is a private water concessionaire, managing the water and wastewater supply of the Brazilian state of Amapá. In December 2021, CSA’s parent company (Equatorial Participações S.A) acquired the water concession in the State of Amapá. In January 2022, CSA began a six-month period of joint operations with the state-owned water utility (Companhia de Água e Esgoto do Amapá) and took control of the entire operation in July 2022.
CSA now operates the existing water assets in Amapá, including 900 kilometers of water distribution, 350 kilometers of wastewater collection, pumping stations, and water treatment stations.
Project Background
In July 2020, the Government of Brazil approved a new legal and regulatory framework for the water and sanitation sector, with the goal of providing universal access to sanitation services by 2033. Historically, the water sector in Brazil has been dominated by public sector utilities, with only 8 percent of sanitation services provided by private sector companies. The new water and sanitation legal framework encourages private players to enter the market by bidding on concessions for water distribution, sewage collection, and water treatment services. Since its launch, the new framework has resulted in nearly $20 billion in contracted investments across 564 municipalities in 17 different states and is expected to attract over $130 billion in new investments in the sector.
Under the new framework, CSA acquired the water concession in the State of Amapá in December 2021. As part of its concession agreement, CSA has committed to investing $1 billion over 35 years to develop water and wastewater networks and reduce water losses in the existing system.
CSA’s concession agreement calls for reducing non-revenue water, or water that is pumped or produced but, for a variety of reasons, is subsequently lost or unaccounted for, from its current level of 74.6 percent down to 30 percent over nine years. The majority of CSA’s $1 billion investment will be used to develop water and wastewater networks in Amapá. It is estimated that approximately 8 percent of the investment budget ($75 million) will be allocated to the implementation of the water loss reduction master plan.
About the Technical Assistance
CSA is seeking support to develop a medium- and long-term master plan to reduce non-revenue water (NRW) across the state’s water distribution system. The Technical Assistance will identify technologies and solutions to reduce water losses, evaluate financing and organizational resource
requirements, and determine the phases of Project implementation. The Technical Assistance will also assist CSA in developing a roll-out plan for District Metered Areas (DMAs) to monitor the water flow and further reduce NRW.