Hamburger Stadtentwässerung (HSE), the city's wastewater company, invested EUR 142.6 million in 2025 against a plan of EUR 193.0 million. That is 73.9% of plan. At the Klärwerk, the central treatment plant, it delivered only 61.3% of planned investment.
Money was not the limit
HSE says part of the planned treatment-plant and sewer work could not be carried out because of capacity bottlenecks in the construction market. Its cash rose by EUR 30.8 million because not all investment went ahead. It borrowed EUR 100.0 million in 2025, repaid EUR 90.0 million, and has a EUR 300 million European Investment Bank loan, signed on 11 July 2024, for part of its 2024–2027 programme.
The drinking-water side kept pace
Hamburger Wasserwerke (HWW), the drinking-water company, invested EUR 85.2 million against a plan of EUR 82.7 million, or 103.0%. Spending on its water network reached 126.1% of plan. Together the two companies invested EUR 227.8 million, 82.6% of their combined plan of EUR 275.7 million.
A bigger programme ahead
HAMBURG WASSER plans EUR 1.15 billion of investment over 2025–2029, about EUR 230 million a year. It wants to raise drinking-water mains renewal from about 20 km to 30 km a year, and to renew about 270 km by 2035. Construction prices rose by up to 35% between 2021 and 2024, the utility says, so work that slips also tends to cost more. In September 2026 the VERA II sludge incineration budget was raised to EUR 315.1 million.
Which projects are in procurement, what each is worth and when it is due, how the two companies finance the programme, and where delivery and cost risks lie are set out in the full report. The full report, Water Infrastructure Investment and Project Pipeline in Hamburg, is available for USD 249.