Regulation performance of public–private partnerships in the Portuguese water sector

Starting from transaction costs (and new institutional economic approaches, this study sought to understand the influence of the regulatory structure and incentives on the performance of public–private partnerships in Portugal. The findings of this case study show that agency participation in the mediation process between parties is time consuming and improper from a technical perspective; in addition, the agency is captured by political interests, which does not favor users’ interests or the sustainability of water services. Thus, the regulatory structure and incentives cannot be dependent on political nominations, and existing contractual rules need to be reassigned.

Download Full-text

Lessons Learned from Mbombela, South Africa, in Public-Private Partnerships in the Water Sector

Sustainability in Environment ◽

10.22158/se.v5n1p37 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. p37

Author(s):

Dr. Jeremy D. Gorelick ◽

Neil Diamond

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Unintended Consequences ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Public Private Partnerships ◽

Water Sector ◽

African City ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Successes And Challenges

For urban dwellers around the world, basic water services are provided by city administrations. However, in developing countries, cities lack both the human and financial resources to ensure adequate services, particularly to some of their most vulnerable populations. As a result, public entities often consider turning to the private sector for assistance, which may lead to a series of adverse and unintended consequences. The following case study describes the experiences of the South African city of Mbombela, arguably one of the most successful Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in the water sector in sub-Saharan Africa, through its successes and challenges.

Download Full-text

Transaction costs, relational contracting and public private partnerships: a case study of UK defence

Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management ◽

10.1016/s0969-7012(02)00035-7 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 97-108 ◽

Cited By ~ 127

Author(s):

David Parker ◽

Keith Hartley

Keyword(s):

Transaction Costs ◽

Public Private Partnerships ◽

Relational Contracting

Download Full-text

Public–private partnership in the water sector in Romania: success or failure?

Water Science & Technology Water Supply ◽

10.2166/ws.2013.134 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 1249-1256 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

F. Iliescu ◽

S. Popescu ◽

M. Dragomir ◽

D. Dragomir

Keyword(s):

Systems Engineering ◽

Policy Instrument ◽

The Other ◽

Public Private Partnerships ◽

Water Sector ◽

Private Partnership ◽

The Public ◽

Key Issues ◽

Application Potential

The paper is focused on analyzing the public–private partnerships (PPP) in the water sector in Romania. A methodology based on the system lifecycle approach of ISO/IEC 15288:2008 is proposed to study the challenges in designing and implementing this type of policy instrument. The authors use structured approaches for investigating key issues related to PPP projects and they also illustrate the application potential of the concept by comparing two categories of projects, through a case study. One of the studied project categories refers to successful implementations of PPP, whilst the other refers to failures, thus showcasing the power of abstractization of systems engineering in understanding the real issues involved in these undertakings and allowing for improvement opportunities to be discovered.

Download Full-text

LIFECYCLE PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS: A CASE STUDY IN CHINA’S WATER SECTOR

International Journal of Strategic Property Management ◽

10.3846/ijspm.2018.6048 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 22 (6) ◽

pp. 516-531 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Fengyu Bao ◽

Igor Martek ◽

Chuan Chen ◽

Albert P. C. Chan ◽

Yao Yu

Keyword(s):

Performance Measurement ◽

Comprehensive Evaluation ◽

Public Private Partnerships ◽

Evolutionary Development ◽

Water Sector ◽

Private Partnership ◽

Historical Factors ◽

Water Plant ◽

Conceptual Performance

Numerous public-private partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects have been operating in China after nearly 30 years of development. Surprisingly, few lessons and experiences have been drawn from these existing cases, thereby creating an urgent demand for a comprehensive evaluation of their performance. Thus, this paper presents a timely contribution to the assessment of a representative PPP project in China’s water sector, the Chengdu No. 6 Water Plant B Project, from a lifecycle perspective. Through a triangulation method, the project is generally deemed a success providing instructive lessons on the future evolutionary development of PPPs in China despite several imperfections caused by particular historical factors. Moreover, this paper advances the performance measurement of PPPs offering empirical insights to promote the efficacy of conceptual performance measurement frameworks. The outcomes of this research are especially valuable to the current Chinese PPP community where huge opportunities and challenges simultaneously exist.

Download Full-text

Delphi technique as a consultation method in regulatory impact assessment (RIA) – the Portuguese water sector

Water Policy ◽

10.2166/wp.2017.131 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 19 (3) ◽

pp. 423-439 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Bruno Eustaquio de Carvalho ◽

Rui Cunha Marques ◽

Oscar Cordeiro Netto

Keyword(s):

Decision Analysis ◽

Impact Assessment ◽

Delphi Technique ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Water Sector ◽

Regulatory Impact ◽

Imperfect Knowledge ◽

Portuguese Water ◽

Regulatory Impact Assessment

This paper explores use of the Delphi technique on regulatory impact assessment (RIA) in order to select criteria as well as to analyze the non-neutrality of stakeholders in the Portuguese case study. Although the decision-making process has been supporting a different prescriptive approach, there is no neutral decision, which can reflect on the (in)efficiency of the government's action. To cope with imperfect knowledge, we have built the link between the objectives from Law no. 194/2009, which determines the regulatory framework in the Portuguese water sector and its potential criteria. Moreover, the elicitation weights for each criterion previously selected were framed in an innovative way, under a different perspective, either customers, municipalities or concessionaires. Evidence advises that there are relevant myopic, omission, splitting, and insensitivity biases for decision analysis, because of the distortion of input. Thus, the Delphi technique enables the decision makers to obtain reliable information before taking a decision. The results in terms of a different perspective for each criterion enable us not only to identify the non-neutrality of decision analysis, but also to (re)think the stakeholder's participation into the context of the Law referred to. Finally, this approach could consolidate our understanding concerning the potentialities of the Delphi technique in RIA, especially in policies with several objectives.

Download Full-text

Sustainable Water-Energy Nexus towards Developing Countries’ Water Sector Efficiency

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14123525 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (12) ◽

pp. 3525

Author(s):

Helena M. Ramos ◽

Jorge G. Morillo ◽

Juan A. Rodríguez Diaz ◽

Armando Carravetta ◽

Aonghus McNabola

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

Energy Recovery ◽

Renewable Energy Sources ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Selling Price ◽

Water Sector ◽

Water Energy Nexus ◽

Portuguese Water ◽

Sector Performance

Water management and energy recovery can improve a system’s sustainability and efficiency in a cost-effective solution. This research assesses the renewable energy sources used in the water sector, as well as the related water sector performance indicators within Portuguese water management systems. A deep analysis of 432 water entities in Portugal, based on ERSAR data base, was conducted in order to identify factors to be improved regarding the system efficiency. On the other hand, the potential energy recovery developed in the REDAWN project was also used as a reference for the application of micro hydropower (MHP) solutions in the water sector. A water and energy nexus model was then developed to improve the systems efficiency and sustainability. A real case study in Africa, the Nampula water supply system, located in Mozambique, was selected as a promising potential for energy recovery. The application of a pump-as-turbine (PAT) allows the reduction in system costs and environmental impacts while increasing its efficiency. The proposed MHP has a capacity to generate ~23 MWh/year, providing significant savings. The developed economic analysis indicates the project is profitable, with an IRR ~40% depending on the energy selling price. This project can avoid the emission of more than 12 tCO2 to the atmosphere, and it can help to reduce the system’s real losses by more than 10,000 m3/year. Consequently, it creates a total economic benefit of 7604 EUR/year.

Download Full-text