Automation and electrification solutions for one of the world’s first large-scale dual-mode desalination plants
ABB has won an order from Keppel Seghers Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Keppel Infrastructure Holdings Pte Ltd (Keppel Infrastructure) to supply complete electrical, instrumentation, automation and control systems for Singapore’s fourth desalination plant, the Keppel Marina East Desalination Plant.
The Design-Build-Own-Operate (DBOO) project, initiated by PUB, Singapore’s national water agency, will produce approximately 30 million gallons of fresh drinking water a day, enough to fill about 55 Olympic-sized swimming pools, when it is completed by 2020.
For this plant, ABB will design, engineer, manufacture, install, test and commission the complete plant electrification, instrumentation and water analyzers, automation and control system. The scope of supply includes 66kV gas-insulated switchgears, power and distribution transformers, medium- and low-voltage switchgears and drives, control system, remote terminal units, field instruments and analytical systems, AC and DC uninterruptible power supply, emergency diesel generator, bus duct and cabling system, local control cubicles and earthing system.
“We are delighted to be part of another iconic project in Singapore, and for our digital technologies to contribute to Singapore’s water sustainability journey,” said Johan de Villiers, Managing Director, ABB, Singapore and South-east Asia. “We are confident that ABB’s experience in desalination and our proven capability of executing complex projects will enable us to deliver an efficient and reliable electrical, instrumentation, automation and control system for the Keppel Marina East Desalination Plant.
Singapore’s water comes from four sources – reservoir water, imported water from Malaysia, ultra-clean, high-grade reclaimed water (branded NEWater in Singapore) and desalinated water. Desalination therefore plays a strategic role in Singapore’s vision for a diversified and sustainable supply of water, and is expected to meet up to 30 per cent of water demand by 2060.
As a dual-mode facility, the Marina East Desalination Plant will be able to treat either fresh or sea water, depending on wet or dry weather conditions, thus reducing plant energy usage when freshwater is abundant.
ABB technologies are deployed across many of Singapore’s water infrastructure projects, including the Marina Barrage, and the Changi Water Reclamation Plant of the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System Phase 1 project.
