Keppel-led group bags S$1.5b contract to develop integrated waste management plant

SINGAPORE'S National Environment Agency has awarded a Keppel-led consortium an engineering, procurement and construction contract worth some S$1.5 billion.

The contract is for the development of a waste-to-energy (WTE) facility and a materials recovery facility (MRF) for Singapore's new Tuas Nexus Integrated Waste Management Facility.

The three-member consortium comprises Keppel Seghers Engineering Singapore, the environmental engineering arm of Keppel Infrastructure; China Harbour (Singapore) Engineering Company; as well as ST Engineering Marine, the marine arm of Singapore Technologies Engineering.

Together, they will design and build a 2,900 tonnes per day (tpd) WTE facility and a 250 tpd MRF as part of the integrated facility's Phase 1 development, the companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

Under the contract, Keppel Seghers, China Harbour and ST Engineering Marine's share of the works is about 48 per cent, 31 per cent and 21 per cent respectively.

To be co-located with the Public Utilities Board's (PUB) Tuas Water Reclamation Plant at the Tuas View Basin site, the WTE facility and the MRF will be among the largest of such facilities in Singapore upon completion in 2024, the companies noted.

Based on Keppel Seghers' proprietary technology, the WTE facility will generate sufficient electricity to sustain the operations of Tuas Nexus Phase 1, as well as the initial phase of the Tuas Water Reclamation Plant.

The WTE facility will feature Keppel Seghers' air-cooled grate, boiler design and advanced combustion system. As the consortium lead, Keppel Seghers will also be responsible for the overall project management.

China Harbour will undertake the civil, structural and landscaping scope of the project, while ST Engineering's marine arm will be responsible for the construction of the MRF, power-island and the balance of plant.

"With advanced technologies to sort metals, paper, cardboard and plastics automatically, the MRF will improve sorting efficiency, contributing towards the overall recycling rate in Singapore," the companies added.

The development is not expected to have a material impact on the net tangible assets or earnings per share of Keppel Corp and ST Engineering for the current financial year.

As at 2.38pm on Wednesday, shares in Keppel Corp were trading S$0.05 or 0.9 per cent lower at S$5.62, while ST Engineering shares were trading at S$3.31, down S$0.02 or 0.6 per cent.