A tender for a 70 MIGD (318,500 m³/d) desalination plant to be built at Tuas, Singapore, was launched on 30 June 2010 by the country’s national water agency, PUB.
This is the second and largest municipal desalination plant to be built in Singapore and will be built under a design-build-own-operate (DBOO) arrangement using reverse-osmosis technology.
The successful bidder will enter into a 25-year water purchase agreement to supply desalinated water to PUB, commencing from mid-2013. The water purchase agreement will set out the tariff structure, terms and conditions for the purchase of desalinated water.
“Since 2005, PUB has adopted the “Best Sourcing” approach to expand our water supply system in a cost competitive manner,” said Koh Boon Aik, director (best sourcing), PUB. “These projects have been highly successful, ensuring high quality and reliable water supply at the most cost-effective basis as they tap on private sector’s capacity and flexibility to innovate. These public-private partnerships also helped water companies build up their track record in Singapore and they can eventually export the expertise they gain from the project internationally.”
The new desalination plant project is PUB’s fourth DBOO project, the first three being the 30 MIGD (136,000 m³/d) SingSpring desalination project, the 32 MIGD (145,000 m³/d) Keppel-Seghers Ulu Pandan NEWater Plant and the 50 MIGD (227,000 m³/d) SembCorp Changi NEWater Plant, opened last month.
New water targets unveiled on 28 June 2010 indicated desalination’s bigger role in Singapore’s water supply. By 2060, Singapore plans to ramp up desalinated water capacity by almost 10 times, so that the Fourth National Tap can meet at least 30% of the water demand. Water demand is expected to double to 760 MIGD (345,500 m³/d) by 2060.