EUR 40 million for Lille Métropole's sewerage and drainage network

EUR 40 million for Lille Métropole's sewerage and drainage network

* Release date: 23 March 2012
* Reference: 2012-045-EN

The finance contract signed in Lille by Martine Aubry, President of Lille
Métropole, and European Investment Bank Vice-President Philippe de Fontaine
Vive Curtaz is aimed specifically at significantly improving Lille Métropole's
sewerage and stormwater drainage networks.

This EUR 40 million loan (out of a total of EUR 80 million earmarked for the
project) will make it possible to finance three key projects for Lille
Métropole. The first is the reconstruction of the wastewater treatment plant at
Marquette-lez-Lille and its associated networks in order to bring them into
line with the EU's new urban wastewater treatment standards and increase their
wastewater treatment capacity (to cater for the equivalent of 620 000 people).
The Marquette-lez-Lille wastewater treatment plant will be the biggest in
northern France. It is remarkable for the approach adopted and the substantial
resources deployed to design a project that complies with strict town planning
rules and takes environmental issues very much into account. The site is
expected to be virtually completely self-sufficient in terms of its energy
requirements as the biogas produced by the treatment process will be reused and
1 300 m^2 of photovoltaic panels will be installed. Management of the site's
stormwater has been optimised in order to enable complete infiltration in situ.
This is in keeping with the desire for the urban integration of the buildings
and for the project to serve as a model.

Another major project for Lille Métropole is the construction of the les
Bateliers stormwater basin, which will involve creating a 20 000 m³
decontamination basin and building a pumping station to manage the disposal of
the stormwater and reduce the risk of flooding. This finance will also make it
possible to take effective action to tackle clean water inflow and infiltration
, as the Lille conurbation is built on land where the water table is high and
some buildings that have underground structures (such as cellars and car parks)
are exposed to rising water levels. This water is recovered and discharged into
the sewerage system, which means that the wastewater treatment plants and mains
drainage networks are faced with a huge volume of clean water inflow and
infiltration. Buildings with a large footprint will therefore either be
modified or linked up with a segregated network of pipes, to enable the
extraneous water to drain away via infiltration or by being discharged into the
natural environment.

This finance, which is being provided on particularly attractive terms, cements
the excellent partnership that has been established between Lille Métropole and
the European Union's bank. This loan also demonstrates the key role played by
the EIB in the water sector, both within Europe and worldwide. Within the
European Union, the EIB's practical commitment as the leading provider of funds
in this sector has gone from strength to strength in recent years, increasing
from EUR 1.6 billion on average during the period 1996-2005 to EUR 2.9 billion
a year on average over the past five years. Worldwide, over the period
2005-2009, the EIB's direct lending to the water sector amounted to nearly
EUR 15 billion and involved a total of 126 major water supply and sanitation
projects, of which 90% within the European Union.

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* a.auguin@eib.org
* +352 43 79 - 83330
* +352 621 36 19 48

Press Office

* press@eib.org
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