PUB selects Hyflux as bidder for largest desalination plant in Singapore

Hyflux will form a concession company to enter into a Water Purchase Agreement with PUB by April 2011.

According to PUB, the plant is expected to commence operations in 2013 and will add another 70 imperial million gallons or 318,500 cubic metres of desalinated water per day to Singapore's water supply.

The desalination plant will be constructed under a Design, Build, Own and Operate (DBOO) model. This outcome-based approach offers bidders flexibility to design and develop the most innovative and sustainable proposal that meets the specified performance standards. Hyflux will use membrane technology in the proposed plant and generate its own power on-site for the desalting process. Excess power will be sold to the power grid. At a first-year price of $0.45 per cubic metre, Hyflux offers the most competitive tariff for the supply of desalinated water over a 25-year period from 2013 to 2038.

Apart from its competitive tariff, Hyflux has demonstrated a strong track record in terms of technical capabilities, operational experience and financial strength to undertake this project. Hyflux has experience in design-build-own-operate desalination projects locally and overseas, such as the SingSpring Desalination Plant at Tuas and the Tianjin Dagang Desalination Plant in China.

The 70 mgd desalination plant project is PUB's fourth DBOO project between PUB and the private sector, the first three being the 30 mgd SingSpring desalination plant, the 32 mgd Keppel-Seghers Ulu Pandan NEWater Plant and the 50 mgd SembCorp Changi NEWater Plant.

“With this Public-Private Partnership model, we leverage the collective strengths of both the public and private sectors to deliver public services in a cost-effective manner. For this 70mgd desalination project, Hyflux’s proposal meets the stated performance requirements for the quantity and quality of the water to be supplied to PUB and gives the best value to Singapore’s water users,” said Mr Koh Boon Aik, Director (Best Sourcing), PUB.

Desalinated water is one of Singapore’s four diversified sources of water supply. The other three are water from local catchments, imported water and NEWater. Desalinated water is set to play a bigger role in Singapore’s water supply. The addition of this second desalination plant will increase the total desalination capacity from the current 30 mgd to 100 mgd in 2013. Desalinated water can be used to supplement water from local reservoirs during dry weather. This will enhance the drought resilience of Singapore’s water supply, and ensure reliability for Singapore’s water users.

The project is part of the long-term water master plan unveiled during the Singapore International Water Week in June last year, during which PUB announced that it would ramp up desalination capacity by almost 10 times, to meet 30% of water demand by 2060.