Water Company of the Year
Suez
What is it?
A €8.8 billion-a-year water and waste powerhouse at the heart of the ecological transition. It is active in 40 countries worldwide.
What has it done?
2023 was the year when Suez rediscovered its mojo and proved its mettle as a proactive champion of the circular economy. It pushed new boundaries in finance, desalination, sustainability, and project delivery, racking up €5 billion in contractual backlog along the way.
What makes it special?
Suez needed to find a fresh approach after a lengthy merger process left it with a slimmed-down portfolio. A new sustainable development roadmap spanning climate, nature, and social commitments underscores its dedication to decarbonisation, biodiversity, and human capital. To finance these ambitions, the group issued its inaugural sterling green bond last year, drawing demand of £1.1 billion.
Its commitment to enhancing biodiversity and improving liveability is nowhere more evident than in its pioneering contract activity. Tunisia’s first ever wastewater concession will benefit nearly 1 million people while preventing pollution thanks to nutrient removal. In Uzbekistan, the Tashkent Water Transformation Plan spearheaded by Suez is part of a wider blueprint for water management in Central Asia, providing science-based education, as well as water and sanitation in rural schools.
The development of a green industrial ecosystem in China will see Suez save 36 million m3/year of fresh water by constructing its largest ever industrial desalination project to serve a chemical complex. Going above and beyond to facilitate the planet’s ecological transition is an inescapable part of the company’s DNA.
Distinction
Gradiant
What is it?
A $200 million-a-year water technology supplier, systems integrator, and plant operator helping to define a sustainable future for industrial water.
What has it done?
Gradiant’s achievements in 2023 extended far beyond earning its place as the first unicorn in the water technology space. It has positioned itself in some of the fastest-growing market segments through a series of shrewd acquisitions and digital expansion initiatives, enabling it to double its revenues in each of the past three years.
What makes it special?
A $225 million Series D round valuing Gradiant at $1 billion provided the firepower for a remarkable transformation in 2023. The purchase of German contractor H+E saw it sweep into the European semiconductor market, while the acquisitions of Advanced Watertek and MPES complemented the establishment of a global innovation centre in the Middle East.
Gradiant cares about the impact of the plants it builds long after the earth-movers have left the construction site. The 2023 launch of Turing – the group’s digital and AI business – leverages cloud-based digital twin technology developed by SpaceAge Labs to drive cost savings across the entire water value chain.
The company’s obsession with maximising its impact has seen it apply a portfolio of technologies to optimise the lithium production process. It is also piloting a destructive oxidation technique for PFAS elimination, while the acquisition of H+E’s supercritical water oxidation technology gives it capabilities in PFAS removal. It all adds up to a uniquely different kind of water company.