Singaporean desalination specialist Hyflux has been given a letter of intent for a contract by the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) to construct the Ain Sokhna Integrated Water and Power Project in Egypt.
The desalination plant is designed to produce 150,000 cubic metres of water per day. An on-site 457 MW combined cycle gas turbine power plant will be constructed to generate power and supply electricity to the desalination plant. Excess power will be dispatched to the grid.
The total value of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract is $500m, with construction slated to commence following finalisation of contract terms. The deal sees Hyflux maintaining and operating the plant for 25 years.
"The entry into the Egyptian market presents exciting opportunities for Hyflux," said Olivia Lum, Hyflux chief executive, in a statement.
"We are delighted to be awarded the project and honoured to be given this opportunity to work with SCZone. This project is significant to us because it is our first integrated water and power project abroad and demonstrates our ability to put together an innovative solution that is recognised internationally."
This project is expected to have a material financial impact on Hyflux for the financial year ending 31 December 2016 subject to the signing of the relevant contracts.
Headquartered and listed in Singapore, Hyflux has operations and projects in Southeast Asia, China, India, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas.
The group’s track record includes Singapore’s first water recycling plant and some of the world’s largest seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants in Algeria, China and Singapore.
Photograph: Port Said, Egypt, the northern outlet of the Suez Canal in 2015 (Earth Observatory, Nasa)
