KUALA LUMPUR: YTL Power International Bhd is one of four firms pre-qualified to submit proposals for the development of a desalination plant in Jurong Island, Singapore, which will be city state’s fifth.

PUB, Singapore’s national water agency, put up a request for proposal yesterday for the development of the desalination plant.

Besides YTL Power, the three other applicants shortlisted from an earlier pre-qualification exercise are Keppel Infrastructure Holdings Pte Ltd, Sembcorp Utilities Pte Ltd and Tuas Power Ltd, according to a statement issued by the PUB.

All four firms will submit their proposals for the desalination plant, which is to be ready by 2020.

The plant, said PUB, will add another 137,000 cu m or about 30 million gallons of desalinated water (mgd) a day to Singapore’s water supply, enhancing water supply resilience. The new plant will be built under a design-build-own-operate arrangement.

PUB said the successful applicant for the Jurong Island plant will enter into a 25-year water purchase agreement to supply desalinated water to the PUB. The water purchase agreement will set out the tariff structure, terms and conditions for the supply and purchase of desalinated water.

The desalination plant, said PUB, will be co-located within the successful applicant’s existing facility such as a power plant or steam generation plant on Jurong Island, so potential synergies in resources such as seawater intake and outfall structures or energy, can be derived.

YTL Power subsidiary, YTL PowerSeraya Pte Ltd, has a 10,000 cu m per day Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant at its Pulau Seraya Power Station on Jurong Island.

According to YTL PowerSeraya’s website, the plant is the first in the world to use a highly advanced 16-inch large diameter membrane SWRO technology and set new standards in efficiency when the plant was established in 2008.

The group has a strong core commodity business centred on electricity generation, which has a licensed capacity of 31,000mw as well as electricity retail and multi-utility services that include steam, water and gas.

There are currently two desalination plants in Singapore with a combined capacity of 100mgd, which can meet up to 25% of Singapore’s current water demand.

The third desalination plant is expected to be completed in Tuas by 2017, with the fourth, in Marina East. Last December, Keppel was selected to design, build, own and operate Singapore’s fourth desalination plant in Marina East, which is also expected to be ready by 2020.

“Desalinated water is a key pillar of Singapore’s water supply strategy. As a source of water that is independent of rainfall, it bolsters the reliability of our water supply against prolonged periods of dry spells and droughts,” said PUB director of engineering development and procurement Young Joo Chye in the same statement yesterday.

PUB is a statutory board under Singapore’s environment and water resources ministry. It manages Singapore’s water supply, water catchment and used water.

YTL Power shares edged up one sen or 0.69% to close at RM1.45, with about 784,000 shares exchanged, giving it a market capitalisation of RM11.25 billion.