Launch of the First Startup Dedicated to the Creation of Industrial Water Treatment Plants
Formerly CEO of Veolia Eau and Senior Executive Vice President of Veolia Environnement, Jean-Michel Herrewyn founded fWE, a “water asset developer”, to address a global economic, ecological and social need: the lack of development and financing of water treatment facilities in manufacturing, particularly in developing countries.Â
fWE provides a sustainable solution to the current under-investment in water treatment capacities, particularly in developing countries where the needs of major industrial groups in terms of water capacity are growing.
fWE is founded based on an innovative “water asset developer” model. This model involves implementing a “water strategy” for industrial clients, enabling them to finance their water infrastructures. Unlike in traditional models of the water sector, industrial clients no longer need to acquire their own water or effluent treatment plants. Instead, infrastructure funds invest in the asset on their behalf on the basis of a long-term contract, with potential financial assistance from development finance institutions such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a subsidiary of the World Bank.
Jean-Michel Herrewyn says: “Thanks to its model combining financial and shareholder interests, as well as social interest, fWE wants to make an effective contribution to directing third-party financing into the construction and service of water and effluent treatment facilities, which are still cruelly short in many areas, and particularly in many developing countries.”
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ABOUT FWE
fWE is the first “water asset developer” – an entity intended to help major industrial groups design and deploy their “water strategy” that incorporates water needs, treatment of effluent resulting from the company’s activity, and recycling of these. Directed by the former CEO of Veolia Eau, Jean-Michel Herrewyn, and by partners with extensive experience in the water sector, the fWE team secures the relationship between the industrial client, the company specialised in the design, creation and service of water and effluent treatment plants, and infrastructure funds. This model, baptised “water asset as a service”, aims to catalyse third-party investments in water-related assets.
