Next stage of developing Tuas integrated water and solid waste treatment facility begins

[SINGAPORE] The next stage of development of Singapore's first integrated water and solid waste treatment facility, in Tuas, has begun.

This facility will help maximise energy and resource recovery and optimise land use.

The next stage will be the development of a 400-tonnes-a-day food waste treatment facility and an 800-tonnes-a-day sludge incineration facility, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Friday (July 30).

With this, the Tuas Nexus Integrated Waste Management Facility Phase One development is expected to be completed by 2025.

These facilities will play a key role in realising Singapore's vision of zero waste and a circular economy.

The contract was awarded to UES Holdings - China Harbour (Singapore) Engineering Company Joint Venture for S$428 million.

The proposals were evaluated based on their process design and optimisation, resource efficiency, Green Mark initiatives, plant layout and value for cost.

Tuas Nexus consists of two mega facilities managed separately by national water agency PUB and NEA. Set to be completed in phases from 2025, it will locate PUB's Tuas Water Reclamation Plant next to NEA's Integrated Waste Management Facility.

It will be energy self-sufficient by harnessing synergies from the two facilities. This is expected to result in savings of more than 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, equivalent to taking 42,500 cars off Singapore's roads.

When completed, the food waste treatment facility will provide Singapore's primary means of treating source-segregated food waste. Inorganic materials are first separated from food waste.

The food waste is turned into a slurry, which will be co-digested with used water sludge to produce biogas and improve energy recovery.

Burning the biogas will generate electricity to run Tuas Nexus, with enough left over to be exported to the national grid to power up to 300,000 four-room Housing Board flats.

The sludge will then be incinerated at the facility. This means the sludge from the Tuas Water Reclamation Plantwill not have to be transported elsewhere for treatment, thus reducing the carbon footprint.

Said Mr Luke Goh, chief executive officer of NEA: "This next stage of the Tuas Nexus development focuses on integrating advanced facilities to treat food waste and sludge from PUB's Tuas Water Reclamation Plant. Integration of these typically distinct treatment processes is complex but delivers the benefits of higher energy recovery and lower carbon emissions."

THE STRAITS TIMES