The consortium formed by OHL and Agbar has been awarded the expansion of the irrigation area of the Canal de Navarra in Spain.

The consortium won the tender process in late March with a financial offer of €147.5 million (US$204.6 million)

The team, by offering a 25% reduction on the tender price, beat out competition from the second consortium formed by Acciona and ACS-Iridium which offered a 11.9% reduction. As regards the technical aspects, OHL-Agbar obtained 279 out of the 300 points possible, and Acciona-ACS, 239.2.

The Government of Navarra will pay about €8.53 million per year to the preferred bidder, representing a total saving of  €2.84 million compared with the initial budget estimated.

The project will be developed on a design, build, finance, operation and maintenance (DBFOM) basis for a period of 30 years. Construction is scheduled to start in November this year and the project is expected to be operational at the beginning of 2018.

The project involves the construction of 21.3 kilometre of new channel, between the municipalities of Artajona and Lerín, which will allow 15,275 hectares to be transformed for irrigation.