Symbiotic Planning to Keep Singapore Clean : Joined Up Thinking - Waste to Energy in Singapore
In all industries there are deals, and there are DEALS. In the waste industry, deals that top US$1 billion are big news. On 22 April this year, that’s the kind of deal that a Keppel-led consortium struck when it received the Letter of Acceptance from Singapore’s National Environment Agency for the development of a waste to energy facility and a Materials Recovery Facility for Singapore’s new Tuas Nexus IWMF.
Between 1970 and 2016, Singapore’s growing population and booming economy caused a seven-fold increase in waste generation. But the city nation, renowned for its cleanliness, has not sat idly by as mountains of waste slowly overshadowed its island.
Currently, Singapore’'s solid waste disposal infrastructure consists of four waste to energy plants –- Tuas, Senoko, Tuas South and Keppel Seghers Tuas , as well as the Semakau Landfill which opened on 1 April 1999 and is currently Singapore’s only landfill facility.
More recently, Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) has sought the development of an Integrated Waste Management Facility (IWMF) to help meet the country’s future waste management needs and achieve long-term environmental sustainability. To that end, in April this year a Keppel-led consortium received the Letter of Acceptance from the NEA for an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract worth approximately S$1.5 billion, (US$1.07 billion) for the development of a Wwaste to Eenergy facility and a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) for Singapore’s new Tuas Nexus Integrated Waste Management Facility (IWMF).
The NEA says that “As a state-of-the-art flagship facility, it will be developed with innovative solutions that can maximise both energy and resource recovery from solid waste.” As the IWMF and the Tuas Water Reclamation Plant (TWRP) will be co-located at the same Tuas View Basin site, various synergies will be derived to benefit both the NEA an7d PUB (the Public Utilities Board).rd).
The Consortium
The consortium comprises Keppel Seghers Engineering Singapore Pte Ltd, the environmental engineering arm of Keppel Infrastructure, China Harbour (Singapore) Engineering Company Pte Ltd, and ST Engineering Marine Ltd –- the Marine arm of Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd. Keppel Seghers, China Harbour and ST Engineering’s Marine arm’s share of the works under the EPC contract will be approximately 48%, 31% and, 21% respectively. Keppel Seghers will be responsible for the overall project management.
China Harbour Engineering was, founded in 1980 and was one of the first Chinese companies engaged in international engineering projects. ST Engineering is a global technology, defence and engineering group specialising in the aerospace, electronics, land systems and marine sectors
“As a developer and operator of two of Singapore’s current four WtE plants, Keppel, together with its partners, is honoured to contribute further to Singapore’s sustainable urbanisation through this flagship project,” says Dr Ong Tiong Guan, CEO of Keppel Infrastructure. “This project, which will contribute significantly towards Singapore’s long-term waste management plans.”
The consortium will work closely with the NEA, as well as their consultants –- a multi-disciplinary consultancy team led by Black & Veatch and AECOM, in association with Ramboll, for the design, construction and commissioning of this flagship project.
“ST Engineering values industry collaboration, especially one such as this that helps facilitate Singapore’s drive towards environmental sustainability,” says Mr Ng Sing Chan, President, Marine of ST Engineering. “We look forward to fulfilling our part in this consortium with our deep domain expertise in environmental engineering, and core competencies in managing large-scale engineering and critical infrastructure projects.”
Technology
The facility will feature Keppel Seghers’ air-cooled grate, boiler design, and advanced combustion system. In addition, the facility’s wet flue gas cleaning system will ensure the facility’s emissions comply with Singapore’s regulatory requirements and standards. It will generate sufficient electricity to sustain the operations of Tuas Nexus IWMF Phase 1 and the initial phase of PUB’s Tuas Water Reclamation Plant (Tuas WRP), with excess electricity for export to the grid.
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.
The MRF will feature advanced technologies to automatically sort metals, paper, cardboard and plastics, improvinge sorting efficiency over existing systems and contributing towards the overall recycling rate in Singapore.
The Third Integration Project for Keppel
Singapore’s IWMF will mark the third integrated waste management project that Keppel Seghers has undertaken. The company has also designed, built and is currently operating Qatar’'s Domestic Solid Waste Management Centre, an integrated waste management facility that is treatsing waste for the whole country.
In addition, Keppel Seghers Hong Kong Limited is also currently building Hong Kong’s (HK) first Integrated Waste Management Facility off the coast of Shek Kwu Chau, with Zhen Hua Engineering Co. Ltd., which is also a company under the China Harbour Engineering Company in Beijing. HK’s IWMF is its first integrated waste management facility for municipal solid waste and is contracted to treat 3000 tpd of mixed municipal waste.te.
“With the construction of HK’s IWMF, which is currently the first and largest WtE project in HK, progressing well, Singapore’s IWMF will be the second waste management facility to be built by Keppel Seghers and CHEC worldwide. In addition, CHEC also undertook construction of the Tuas Sewage Treatment Plant in Singapore in 2019. The strategic fit for Keppel Seghers and CHEC will create more opportunities for cooperation in the future,” concludes Mr Tang Qiaoliang, President of China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd. (CHEC).
