Channel NewsAsia 22 Dec 16;
SINGAPORE: Keppel Infrastructure Holdings will design, build, own and operate Singapore's fourth desalination plant, national water agency PUB announced on Thursday (Dec 22).
The company was chosen as the preferred bidder after an open tender that attracted 16 bids from seven local and international bidders, PUB said in a statement.
The plant is expected to commence operations in 2020 and will add another 30 million gallons of water (about 137,000 cubic metres) per day to the nation’s water supply.
Under the arrangement with PUB, Keppel will supply water to PUB for a 25-year concession period at a first-year price of S$1.07867 per cubic metre.
"AN ICONIC PROJECT"
Located in Marina East, the plant will be the first in Singapore with the ability to treat sea water, and fresh water from the Marina Reservoir, by using reverse osmosis and other advanced membrane technology, Keppel Infrastructure said in a separate statement.
Keppel Seghers, the environmental technology arm of Keppel Corporation, will undertake the turnkey construction and commissioning of the project, it added.
Keppel Infrastructure Chief Executive Officer Ong Tiong Guan called the planned desalination plant an "iconic project" due to its ambitions of treating both reservoir and sea water.
"This project affirms Keppel Infrastructure's capabilities to create value and offer innovative and competitive solutions for environmental infrastructure essential for sustainable urbanisation."
PUB said the plant will help to strengthen Singapore’s drought resilience as well as enhance the reliability of water supply for the city and eastern Singapore areas by providing an alternative supply to these areas.
According to PUB’s Deputy Chief Executive of Policy and Development Chua Soon Guan, desalinated water is an important part of Singapore's water supply portfolio.
"As a source independent of weather fluctuations, it is resilient against the vagaries of climate change and bolsters the reliability of our water supply against prolonged periods of dry spells and droughts," he explained.
Mr Chua added that the agency has plans to expand Singapore’s desalination capacity to meet up to 30 per cent of the country's future water needs. Currently, 25 per cent of Singapore's water demand is met by desalination, with the rest of the supply coming from local catchments, imported water from Johor and NEWater.
The transaction, which Keppel Infrastructure and PUB are expected to enter into by January next year, is not expected to have a material impact on the net tangible assets or earnings per share of Keppel Corporation for the current financial year, according to Keppel Infrastructure.
- CNA/mz
Keppel Infrastructure Holdings wins bid to build S'pore’s fourth desalination plant
Today Online 22 Dec 16;
SINGAPORE – Keppel Infrastructure Holdings has been picked to build Singapore’s fourth desalination plant in the Marina East, beating out six other bidders for the project.
National water agency PUB made the announcement on Thursday (Dec 22), adding that Keppel Infrastructure will supply product water to PUB over a 25-year period from 2020 to 2045 at a first-year price of S$1.07867 per cubic metre.
When the plant begins operations in 2020, as expected, it will add another 30 million gallons – approximately 137,000 cubic metres of water – per day to the nation’s water supply.
As the PUB’s preferred bidder, Keppel Infrastructure Holdings will form a concession company to enter into a water purchase agreement with the PUB by January 2017.
The PUB added that the fourth desalination plant will be constructed under a Design, Build, Own and Operate arrangement, like how it was done in the first two desalination plants at Tuas.
The plant will “help to strengthen Singapore’s drought resilience”, said the PUB, as well as “enhance the reliability of water supply”.
The latter will be helped by the plant’s proximity to water demand zones in the city and eastern Singapore by providing an alternative supply to these areas, as the Marina East desalination plant will also have the capacity to treat freshwater from Marina Reservoir.
The tender, which opened on April 15 this year, attracted sixteen bids from seven bidders, including international companies.
Reducing our water dependence on Malaysia
The New Paper 23 Dec 16;
Water conservation was a tough sell on a day like yesterday, when heavy rain pounded the island.
But the burst of rainfall should not mask the real and deep water security issues facing Singapore, with one of its four taps - water from Johor's Linggiu dam, which channels water to treatment plants in the Johor River operated by both the state and Singapore's PUB - at a low of 26 per cent.
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Yesterday, the desalination tap got a boost, with Keppel Infrastructure awarded the latest tender to design, build, own and operate Singapore's fourth desalination plant - the first with the ability to treat seawater and fresh water.
With its ability to pump another 137,000 cubic metres (about 30 million gallons) of water a day into our supplies, the plant brings Singapore closer to its aim of meeting 85 per cent of its water needs through desalination and Newater by 2060, when the demand for water is expected to double.
It will also help decrease Singapore's dependence on importing water from Malaysia for its drinking needs.
Expected to be operational in 2020, the new desalination plant will be able to treat sea and fresh water from Marina Reservoir by using reverse osmosis and other advanced membrane technology.
PREFERRED BIDDER
Keppel Infrastructure was chosen as the preferred bidder for a concession period of 25 years by national water agency PUB, according to a statement released yesterday.
The contract is estimated to be worth $400 to $500 million, according to The Business Times.
Singapore and Malaysia recently agreed on the importance of ensuring reliable and adequate water supply from the Johor River as spelt out in the 1962 Water Agreement.
Both sides agreed to take the necessary measures to make this happen, including working on the Johor River Barrage project, which will be fully operational by March.
Keppel to build S'pore's fourth desalination plant
Samantha Boh and Carolyn Khew, Straits Times AsiaOne 23 Dec 16;
The PUB has announced its choice of builder for Singapore's fourth desalination plant, picking the Temasek-linked Keppel Corp's infrastructure arm, diversifying the range of companies it works with on these strategic projects.
Photo: Hyflux
The PUB has announced its choice of builder for Singapore's fourth desalination plant, which will allow it to boost treated sea water supply by nearly 25 per cent in 2020 and bring the Republic closer to self-sufficiency.
It picked Temasek-linked Keppel Corp's infrastructure arm, diversifying the range of companies it works with on these strategic projects.
National water agency PUB announced yesterday that Keppel Infrastructure Holdings was the "preferred bidder", edging out six other local and international companies.
They included Hyflux, which constructed the country's first two desalination plants.
HSL Constructors is in the midst of constructing the third, expected to be completed next year. The firm did not bid for this tender.
Both Hyflux and HSL Constructors are from the private sector.
The fourth plant in Marina East, which will treat both fresh and sea water, will be completed in 2020.
It will increase water supply by 30 million gallons per day (mgd). The first three plants produce 130 mgd.
The move will help build a more weather-resilient water supply even as the nation's water needs are expected to more than double by 2060.
Singapore currently uses 430 million gallons each day, with around half of the demand met by imported water.
The goal is to have desalination and Newater capacities meet up to 85 per cent of Singapore's water needs by 2060.
Mr Chua Soon Guan, PUB's deputy chief executive of policy and development, said of the new plant: "As a source independent of weather fluctuations, it is resilient against the vagaries of climate change and bolsters the reliability of our water supply against prolonged periods of dry spells and droughts.
"We have plans to expand Singapore's desalination capacity to meet up to 30 per cent of our future water needs."
Keppel Infrastructure said the plant will use reverse osmosis and other "advanced membrane technology", but said it could not provide more details until the agreements are finalised and executed.
Professor Neal Chung, principal investigator at the Environmental Research Institute, said it is important for Singapore to have multiple companies with such capabilities, such that it does not put all its eggs in one basket.
However, the challenge on the horizon, he added, is finding a way to keep energy consumed through the desalination process low.
Conventional reverse osmosis - the method used to turn sea water into drinkable water - is known to be an energy guzzler.
"The key is to produce water at low energy, hence reducing the cost as well," said Prof Chung, who is also from NUS' department of chemical and biomolecular engineering.
Similar to the first two desalination plants in Tuas, the fourth desalination plant will be constructed under a Design, Build, Own and Operate arrangement.
Keppel Infrastructure will sign the Water Purchase Agreement with PUB by next month. It will supply water to PUB over a 25-year period from 2020 to 2045, at a first-year price of around $1.08 per cubic metre.
PUB said the plant's close proximity to the Marina Reservoir provides the opportunity to treat water from the reservoir or the sea.
It added that the structures will be located outside the water sports areas and so will not affect such activities.
