吉宝新闻

Keppel wins S$1.7 billion solid waste management contracts in Qatar

Keppel Integrated Engineering Limited (KIE) has been awarded two contracts amounting to QR3.9 billion (approximately S$1.7 billion) from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture in Qatar.

The two contracts, of about equal value, are for the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) of an integrated solid waste management facility in Qatar, and the Operation and Maintenance of this facility for 20 years. The contracts will be undertaken by Keppel Seghers, a wholly-owned subsidiary of KIE.

Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources of Singapore and His Excellency Sheikh Abdul Rahman Bin Khalifa Bin Abdul Azziz Al-Thani, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture of Qatar, were the guests of honour at the signing ceremony held in Doha on 17 October 2006.

Dr Yaacob said, “This project secured by Keppel is the largest environmental engineering undertaking that a Singaporean company has won in the international market. I hope that this significant project will also help strengthen the strong and warm relationship which Singapore enjoys with Qatar.

“The landmark contracts are a showcase of the successful Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between the National Environment Agency and Keppel to bring Singapore’s proven environmental technology and technical-cum-operational expertise to the highly competitive global marketplace.

“Singapore hopes to see and will encourage more Singapore environmental and water companies to venture and provide its expertise, services and products to the global water markets in the Middle East and beyond.”

The National Environment Agency (NEA) of Singapore, a statutory board under the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, is Keppel Seghers’ strategic partner in this project. NEA’s extensive expertise and experience from its impressive track record of over 40 years in environmental protection and management, and public health, especially in solid waste management and street cleaning, makes it Keppel’s ideal partner for the delivery of this project.
Under the EPC Contract, Keppel Seghers will design and build four Waste Transfer Stations and one integrated Domestic Solid Waste Management Centre (DSWMC) to handle and treat domestic solid waste for the whole of Qatar.

Designed to treat an initial capacity of more than 1,550 tons of waste a day, the DSWMC will comprise waste sorting and recycling facilities, landfill, composting plant and a 1,000 tons per day Waste-to-Energy (WTE) incineration plant. The WTE plant utilising Keppel Seghers’ water-cooled grate technology is the heart of the integrated waste treatment facility.

Other Keppel Seghers’ technologies to be deployed in the DSWMC include the Danodrum system for recycling and pre-treatment of waste, the Rotary Atomiser semi-dry system for flue gas treatment and the Unibrane membrane bioreactor system for wastewater treatment.

Through its in-house research & development capabilities as well as strategic alliances with global research institutes, KIE is continuously upgrading its technology offerings to its customers and adapting its solutions to suit local conditions and purposes.

The DSWMC is expected to be operational in 2009. This will be the first such integrated solid waste treatment facility in the Middle East, and one of few in the world.

Mr Chua Chee Wui, Chief Executive Officer of KIE and Keppel Seghers, said, “The Qatar Government, in their discernment and foresight, want the most suitable solutions to support their rapid economic development. We competed against some of the best international companies in this tender. Winning this contract is a ringing endorsement of Keppel’s proven state-of-the-art technologies and project management expertise.”

The Middle East countries are developing very rapidly as their governments seek to diversify their countries’ economies and reduce dependency on oil and gas income.

There is urgent demand for basic infrastructure to support economic growth, especially for water resources management and waste management.

“Keppel will continue to tap the vast opportunities in the Middle East to secure more projects. We will leverage our established track record in offering both our water and thermal waste treatment solutions to clients in this region,” Mr Chua added.

Outside the Middle East, the recent ban of landfills in Germany has heightened the need for new waste treatment, opening up further opportunities in the European market for Keppel.

This year alone, Keppel has secured several contracts for WTE plants in China and Europe.

These two contracts will help propel the Infrastructure division to become a significant contributor to the Keppel Group. The Infrastructure division is expected to contribute about 10% to the net earnings of Keppel Corporation for the next three years, commencing 2007.

 The Integrated Waste Management concept radically reduces the amount of waste that is sent to landfill, by reducing the amount of waste to be incinerated through composting and recycling, thus extending the expected life of landfills and reducing the amount of land that needs to be set aside for future landfills. In the process, useful resources such as fertilisers and electricity are produced.

This presents a sustainable approach to waste management, where the concept of “waste” is replaced by the concept of waste as a “resource”. Pollution to the environment is also minimised due to the use of the most advanced flue gas treatment technology which meets the most stringent emission standards – EU II standards.

Waste upon transfer to the waste management center is separated in the entrance area into three streams:

1) Recyclable material such as metals, plastic and glass, which is recovered for sale to dealers in recyclables, will be an incremental revenue source.

2) Organic waste which is sent to the compost plant where it will be biologically treated.
The end product compost will be used by the Government of Qatar as fertiliser or soil conditioners for urban greening projects.

3) Only the non-recyclable and non-compostable waste stream will be channeled to the WTE plant to be burned to generate electricity.
• This is a form of renewable or even green energy and under the Kyoto Protocol ratified on 15 Feb 2005, it attracts carbon credits.
• In countries where WTE plants are situated near to industries or residential areas, such plants can generate steam for district cooling or heating, instead of generating electricity

In line with the environmentally friendly operating philosophy, wastewater from the workers’ accommodation building, the compost plant and the WTE plant is collected at the wastewater treatment plant where it is treated for reuse.