Veolia has emerged as the leading private-sector beneficiary of Spain’s PERTE for Water Digitalization, securing €76 million in grants distributed across 17 projects, according to information released by the company. These initiatives form part of a total investment volume exceeding €109 million once local co-financing is accounted for.
The group, parent company of Agbar, captured roughly 40% of all subsidies awarded to private operators, more than doubling the share of its nearest competitor. Veolia’s portfolio spans 209 municipalities and is expected to reach over 6.2 million inhabitants, creating an estimated 1,457 direct and indirect jobs.
Allocation And Regional Focus
More than €19 million, or about one quarter of the total aid obtained, is directed to Catalonia, where Veolia and its regional subsidiaries will execute four projects with a combined value surpassing €30 million. These deployments cover 46 municipalities and aim to benefit nearly four million residents, generating around 250 jobs.
In parallel, Veolia’s technological divisions are also delivering digital-water capabilities to third-party beneficiaries, representing an additional €23 million in contracted services.
PERTE Framework And Strategic Impact
Spain’s water-digitalization PERTE, coordinated by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge and co-funded through the EU’s NextGenerationEU mechanism, provides €1.94 billion in public investment. Funding is structured around four lines: basin-authority digitalization, improved water governance, support to urban/agricultural/industrial users, and capacity-building in digital competencies.
Veolia’s initiatives target advanced monitoring, data-driven operations, energy-efficiency improvements, and climate-resilience measures. According to the company, the projects prioritize reductions in operational emissions, energy consumption, and non-revenue water across urban networks.
Catalonia: Four Flagship Initiatives
PERTE Ressona: Metropolitan Transformation
The most prominent Catalan initiative is Ressona, led by Aigües de Barcelona in partnership with the Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona and the Agència Catalana de l’Aigua. Recognized by Miteco for its innovation profile, Ressona targets:
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8% reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions
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5% reduction in water footprint
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9.5% reduction in energy consumption
The project focuses on improving operational efficiency across the metropolitan water cycle through sensorization, automated decision systems, and energy-optimised asset management.
A-MEDI, E-READAPTA And FLOW: Advanced Digital Operations
Three additional Catalan projects—A-MEDI (Alt Penedès, Garraf, Alt Camp), E-READAPTA (Rubí) and FLOW (Sabadell)—are led by Agbar and Aigües Sabadell. Designed to deploy advanced instrumentation, AI-driven analytics, and digital-twin capabilities, these initiatives aim to:
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Cut non-revenue water by >16% in Rubí and 10% in the A-MEDI municipalities
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Increase non-conventional water resources in Sabadell by 270%, reducing extraction pressure on the Ter River
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Reduce annual electricity consumption by more than 25% on average
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Support municipal decarbonization through integration of renewable-energy sources
Combined, these projects are positioned to improve system transparency, reinforce long-term water security, and expand public access to real-time water information.
The digitalization of Spain’s urban and regional water systems has accelerated since 2022, driven by drought pressures, aging infrastructure and EU-level mandates for improved water accounting.
Veolia’s ability to combine operational services with its own technology subsidiaries appears to have strengthened its competitiveness across PERTE calls, enabling integrated proposals covering data acquisition, analytics, asset monitoring, and network optimisation.
