Vinci Construction Grands Projets has won a €94m design-build project to enlarge a drinking water plant supplying Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh.

The customer is the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority, and the plant is in Bakheng, in the north of the city.

Vinci previously built the first two phases of the same plant, which now supplies water to some 2 million people.

Those phase were handed over in June 2023 and March 2024.

Now, Vinci is building a new water intake from the Mekong River and a new treatment facility able to treat 195,000 cu m of water a day to supply 750,000 people living in the area by 2028.

Social and environmental goals

Vinci said 1,600 workers would be on site during peak construction.

The project has social and environmental goals.

Vinci said a “large majority” of the workers and supervisors will be Cambodian.

Women are expected to account for 30% of the workforce, and Vinci will train them in building trades.

From an environmental perspective, Vinci will use concrete that emits 30% less carbon than standard local equivalents.

A 9,000-sq-m photovoltaic array, with 3,500 panels, will supply 15% of the plant’s energy requirements.