PUB, Singapores national water agency, has selected locally based Hyflux Ltd as the preferred bidder for the countrys second and largest seawater desalination plant. 

As the preferred bidder, Hyflux will form a concession company to enter into a water purchase agreement with PUB by April 2011. At a first-year price of Sing$ 0.45/m³ (US$ 0.36/m³), Hyflux offered the most competitive tariff for the supply of desalinated water over a 25-year period from 2013 to 2038. 

The new 70 MIGD (318,500 m³/d) reverse-osmosis (RO) desalination plant will incorporate Hyfluxs proprietary Kristal® ultrafiltration (UF) membrane technology for pretreatment. This will be the second largest installation of the companys UF membranes in a desalination plant after the 500,000 m³/d seawater RO plant that Hyflux is developing in Magtaa, Algeria. 

The plant, which will be constructed under a Sing$ 890 million (US$ 702 million) design, build, own and operate model, is expected to commence operations in 2013. Hyflux will also be constructing a 411 MW combined cycle gas turbine power plant to supply electricity to the desalination plant. Excess power will be sold to the power grid. 

"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" said Koh Boon Aik, director (best sourcing), PUB. "For this project, Hyfluxs 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 Singapores water users". 

The project is part of the long-term water master plan unveiled during the Singapore International Water Week in June 2010, during which PUB announced that it would increase desalination capacity by almost 10 times, to meet 30% of water demand by 2060.