In September 2026 Hamburg Wasser's supervisory board approved a €315.1 million budget for VERA II, the fourth sludge incineration line at Hamburg's central treatment plant. The new figure is €71.2 million above the previously approved cost framework. According to the trade press report, €29.8 million of the increase is actual additional cost and the rest is a buffer for risks that have not yet occurred.
Late, and without a new date
VERA II was originally due to enter service in 2025. In July 2025 the utility said construction was halfway through and stepwise commissioning was planned from 2027. In September 2026 it said commissioning was being prepared, without giving a date. The Green Finance Report 2025 had put the total project volume at €297 million, a figure that also covered refurbishment of two of the three existing lines; expansion and refurbishment are now budgeted separately.
Who holds the work
Steinmüller Engineering won the plant construction lot in December 2021 for €87.5 million, after a negotiated procedure that drew one bid. HOCHTIEF Infrastructure holds the fuel reception building lot, awarded in June 2023. In July 2025 the wastewater company issued a €70 million green Schuldschein loan, allocated in full to VERA II.
The 2029 deadline
From 2029 agricultural spreading of sewage sludge will be largely prohibited. VERA II raises incineration throughput from 63,000 to 76,000 tonnes of dry sludge a year. The separate refurbishment budget for the existing VERA plant, last set at €81.3 million, is also expected to be exceeded, with a new figure due in the second quarter of 2027.
Suppliers will want to know which treatment-plant packages are open now, how Hamburg Wasser's two companies buy under different rules, and where to focus first across a €1.15 billion investment plan for 2025–2029. The full report, Hamburg Wasser: Utility Account Brief, is available for USD 499. For a free overview, read the Hamburg Wasser Utility Snapshot.