SINGAPORE – A water purchase agreement is expected to be signed in January 2017 for Singapore’s latest desalination project which will treat two types of water.
After much anticipation it was at the end of December that Singapore’s national water agency, PUB, announced the preferred bidder for its fourth desalination plant, to be located in Marina East.
Singapore company Keppel Infrastructure Holdings will deliver the 137,000 m3/day project under a Design, Build, Own and Operate (DBOO) arrangement.
The open tender attracted 16 bids, with Keppel’s offering of a first-year price of $1.07867 per cubic metre securing the deal.
Water will be provided to PUB over 25 years, from 2020 to 2045.
As a variable-salinity plant, the Marina East Desalination Plant (MEDP) will treat both seawater and fresh water from the Marina Reservoir, using reverse osmosis membranes.
Black & Veatch will provide consultancy services for MEDP after being awarded the contract earlier last year (read story).
MEDP is PUB’s sixth DBOO project between PUB and the private sector, the first five being the Hyflux SingSpring desalination plant, the Keppel-Seghers Ulu Pandan NEWater Plant, the SembCorp Changi NEWater Plant, the Tuaspring Desalination Plant and more recently and the second NEWater Plant in Changi.
Desalination currently supplies 25% of Singapore’s water demands but is expected to rise after further desalination capacity comes online, including a fifth project to be located on Jurong Island (read story).
Chua Soon Guan, PUB’s deputy chief executive of policy and development, said: “Desalinated water is an important part of our 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. We have plans to expand Singapore’s desalination capacity to meet up to 30% of our future water needs.”
Dr Ong Tiong Guan, CEO of Keppel Infrastructure, said: "The Marina East Desalination Plant is an iconic project given its requirements of treating both reservoir and sea water.”
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Read more
Singapore’s fourth desalination plant to be delivered under DBOO agreement
Fourth desalination plant tenders opens in Singapore
Singapore’s 5th desalination plant on Jurong Island: what we know so far
