Guest of BFM Business, Xavier Huillard spoke about the model of concessions which he considers “misunderstood”, in particular on the theme of profitability.
How will the management of motorways evolve after the current concessions? The CEO of Vinci, Xavier Huillard, returned to recent statements by the transport regulatory agency (ART) on this subject. “She confirmed that the concession model is very virtuous and that shorter concessions are needed. Future concessions will be shorter because most of the investments will have been made,” he said. What arouse the interest of the group when the first end of the concession will occur in just under ten years, in 2032.
“If we are in a competition relating to obtaining a concession of a shorter duration, we will be candidates, indicated Xavier Huillard. The other formula would be that the State manages them itself and in this hypothesis , we would be out of the game.”
The boss of Vinci also mentioned the profitability of motorway concessions often singled out by invoking ART as a justice of the peace. “Despite our educational efforts, the concession model is poorly understood. Profitability is commensurate with the investments that were originally made. The legislator has entrusted ART with a mission which consists of update regularly on the internal rates of return and these IRRs are reasonable, around 7-8%.”
Decarbonization, the main challenge for French motorways
Xavier Huillard took advantage of his speech to recall what constitutes, in his view, the major problem of French motorways for the years to come: decarbonization: “The real problem of these motorways is that France will not respect its decarbonization commitments by 2050 without making very strong gestures on the motorways. We are trying to do things but the bulk of the investments remain to be made.”
Among these devices undertaken, the boss of Vinci cites the “renaturation” of areas which have been abusively artificialized, the improvement of the hydraulic transparency of the various networks but above all the installation of electric charging stations. “By mid-2023, we will have installed ultra-fast terminals in all of our service areas, we will have 1,750 in all, including 1,400 ultra-fast. This makes it possible to meet the demand that there will be between now and the next 2-3 years.”
“We probably need to multiply this effort by more than 10 if we follow the evolution of our motorway customers who will need to recharge on the motorway.”
