A consortium of Japan’s Marubeni Corporation and France’s Degremont has been awarded a $178m contract to expand the Doha West wastewater treatment plant on the outskirts of the Qatari capital.

The upgrade will increase the facility’s capacity by an additional 105,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d). When commissioned, the total capacity of the plant will be 280,000 cm/d.

The award follows the signing of two deals signed in 2005 for the design, construction and 10-year operation of the 135,000-cm/d Doha West plant, and then another in 2011 for the first expansion of the facility.

The Doha West plant, located 20 kilometres west of Doha, has been in operation since March 2010. The first expansion was completed in late 2012. The project owner is Qatar Public Works Authority (Ashghal).

Degremont, a subsidiary of France’s Suez Environment, will operate the plant until 2020.

The scheme is part of Ashghal’s programme to expand and upgrade the country’s sewage infrastructure.

The works authority recently invited bids for pre-contract design and consultancy services for the third phase of the expansion of the Industrial Area Sewage Treatment Works (IASTW), 2km southwest of Doha Industrial Area (DIA). The submission date for the tender is 11 January 2015.

The original IASTW had a capacity of 12,000 cm/d, but is currently treating more than 14,000 cm/d of industrial waste. Phase three comprises a new 10,000-cm/d plant on the same site alongside the existing facility.