Background

The Project comprises a concession for the operation, maintenance, expansion and financing of 60.3km of the A5 motorway, consisting of two sections: (i) bi-directional reconstruction and extension from four to six lanes of 41.5km between Baden-Baden and Offenburg; and (ii) operation and maintenance of 18.8km between Malsch and Baden-Baden. Over 70,000 vehicles use the A5 every day – many of them heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).

In 2009 Meridiam completed the transaction in conjunction with a consortium formed by Vinci Concessions SAS (transferred in 2015 to Vinci Concessions Deutschland) and Strabag. Operation of the existing lanes began that same year.

Stage:

In Operation

ESG/SDG Key Facts

The Project Company performs in-house operations and maintenance. The Project Company has initiated an ambitious safety campaign targeting its employees on the ground as well as health at the workplace. Staff use a dedicated app on their mobiles to report all near misses and incidents so that those incidents can be analysed and debriefed. With this proactive approach, the risk that those incidents ever become an accident is significantly reduced. This app is used across Meridiam’s three German motorways so that projects can benefit from shared experience.

In 2020, the company decided to lay rumble strips on 16km of the motorway to help prevent collisions while staff intervene along the road. Since 2020, The Project Company has been organising annual safety awareness weeks, that cover a vast number of topics including fire protection, health, safety, and noise.

The Project Company is actively working on reducing its carbon footprint. It is preparing a 2030 net zero carbon roadmap including a new electric vehicle fleet with 2 vehicles acquired in 2023 and 7 additional in 2024, conversion to LED lighting.

SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean energy)

In 2022, the Project Company finalised the installation of solar panels to cover the O&M centre’s energy requirements with a PV system of 30kWp combined with battery storage of 10kWp. In 2023, solar panels produced 15% of the total Project Company consumption. A plan is underway to switch company cars to electric (first electric cars were acquired in Q4 2022) and to install charging points on the company premise (six charging points installed for 22kW of charging power). The Project Company is continuing to analyse the possibility of using Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (”HVO”) fuel to power trucks. The Project Company has a 100% green energy mix (since 2021) and lighting is being progressively converted to LEDs. These initiatives resulted in a 34% CO2 emission reduction between 2018 and 2022. In 2023, a new gas contract was signed and includes 30% of biogas.

SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth)

The Project Company is promoting health and wellbeing in the workplace and running several programs throughout the year (exercise programmes, healthy eating, safety week).