The Central Administrative Court has lifted the suspension of the award procedure for the expansion of the Torrevieja desalination plant thus allowing the winning bidder, Ferrovial-Sacyr, to continue with the 89.4-million-euro project.
An appeal had been launched by Acciona, the company who built the plant in the first place, after their bid was rejected for being “abnormally low”, despite the argument they made that they are best placed to provide a real quote due to their intimate knowledge of the construction.
In the resolution published by Aguamed, it points out that “on May 30, 2024, the Central Administrative Court of Contractual Resources has agreed to dismiss the appeal filed by ACCIONA AGUA SAU, against the agreement of the contracting body, dated March 21, 2024 , by which the exclusion of said bidder is agreed, in the tender called by the Board of Directors of the Company Aguas de las Cuencas Mediterráneas, SME, SA (ACUAMED), for the contracting of the execution of the expansion and service works operation and maintenance of the Torrevieja desalination plant.
The other appeal filed by the company is also rejected, in this case “against the agreement of the contracting body, dated March 21, 2024, by which the award of the contract is agreed” to the Ferrovial-Sacyr UTE.
The expansion will allow water production to double by 50%, going from the 80 hectometres of desalinated water it currently produces to 120 in 2027, when the works are expected to be completed, although it is already a few months late due to the suspension.
