News

- Project is the first plant in China for the treatment of concentrated industrial wastewater
- Sembcorp also signed MOU and held groundbreaking for a further water reclamation project

Sembcorp continued to make progress in its water projects in China, with two projects which had been selected as bilateral demonstration projects by the governments of China and Singapore marking important milestones today. The projects are sited in the Zhangjiagang Free Trade Port Zone, a 6,000-hectare free trade port zone located in the ‘golden waterway’ of China and at the economic junction of the Yangtze river area.

The milestones were commemorated at a ceremony in Zhangjiagang witnessed by Singapore Minister of State for Manpower and Trade & Industry Lee Yi Shyan, Chinese Ambassador to Singapore Zhang Xiaokang, Singapore Consul-General to Shanghai Yip Wei Kiat, Zhangjiagang City Party Secretary Huang Qin and Sembcorp Group President & CEO Tang Kin Fei. Also present were representatives from PUB, Singapore’s national water agency.

Sembcorp opens China’s first high COD wastewater treatment plant

Sembcorp marked the official opening of China’s first wastewater treatment plant capable of treating highly concentrated industrial wastewater directly from source. The 15,000 cubic metres per day plant had been selected as a government-to-government (G-to-G) project for bilateral cooperation in water management under the memorandum of understanding signed in 2007 between the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Singapore, and Ministry of Housing Urban-Rural Development, People's Republic of China. The Zhangjiagang project was adopted as a water demonstration project to showcase Singapore's expertise in integrated water resource management.

As industrial wastewater is around 16 times more concentrated than the municipal wastewater in China, up until this point government regulations had required industrial companies to pre-treat their wastewater to a chemical oxygen demand (COD) of not more than 500 milligrammes per litre, before discharging the wastewater for treatment. The decision to permit industrial companies to discharge their wastewater directly to a new wastewater plant capable of treating high-COD wastewater, without needing the companies to pre-treat the wastewater to under 500 milligrammes per litre COD, signified a new initiative by the government for advanced wastewater management in China.

The opening of this plant therefore marks a significant milestone for Sembcorp, which was selected to build and operate the plant because of its proven expertise in treating high-COD wastewater in Singapore’s Jurong Island.

The plant is an expansion to Sembcorp’s existing 20,000 cubic metres per day wastewater treatment plant serving customers in the Zhangjiagang Free Trade Port Zone, and is a subsidiary of Sembcorp.

MOU signing & groundbreaking ceremony for a further water reclamation project

In addition, Sembcorp also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and celebrated the groundbreaking for a third water project in the Zhangjiagang Free Trade Port Zone. This project will take the water treatment process further and reclaim high quality water for industrial use from treated industrial effluent. It had earlier also been selected as a G-to-G water demonstration project.

The 20,000 cubic metres per day industrial effluent reclamation facility is expected to be completed by mid-2010, with further expansion expected in tandem with the growth of the free trade zone. The facility will produce high grade industrial water and demineralised water from industrial effluent treated in the Zhangjiagang industrial wastewater treatment facility. Sembcorp’s joint venture company will also be granted exclusive rights to produce and supply the reclaimed water to industries in the Zhangjiagang Free Trade Port Zone. Further expansion of the facility is expected in tandem with the growth of the free trade zone.

The MOU was signed by Zhangjiagang Free Trade Port Zone Vice Director Wang Hui Zhong and CEO of Sembcorp’s operations in China Dr Jeffrey Chen.

Financial Impact

This is not expected to have a material impact on the Group’s earnings per share and the net tangible asset value per share for the financial year ending December 31, 2009.

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April Lee (Ms)
Senior Vice President
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DID: +65 6723 3160
Email: [email protected]

Ng Lay San (Ms)
Assistant Vice President
Group Corporate Relations
DID: +65 6723 3150
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ABOUT SEMBCORP INDUSTRIES

Sembcorp Industries Ltd is a leading utilities and marine group. The Group provides centralised utilities, energy and water to industrial and other customers in Singapore, the United Kingdom, Asia and the Middle East. It is a global leader in marine and offshore engineering and also a provider of environmental and industrial park management services in the region. Sembcorp has total assets of over S$8 billion and employs more than 7,000 employees. Listed on the main board of the Singapore Exchange, Sembcorp is a component stock of the Straits Times Index and several MSCI indices.

Note to Editors:
Following a recent company rebrand, please refer to the company as “Sembcorp” (with “S” in upper case and “c” in lower case), or “Sembcorp Industries” in full. Please also note that “Sembcorp” is not an abbreviation of “Sembawang Corporation” but a brandname in itself, and it is therefore incorrect to refer to our company as “Sembawang”, “Sembawang Corporation” or similar.

ABOUT SEMBCORP’S PRESENCE IN ZHANGJIAGANG

Sembcorp’s Zhangjiagang wastewater treatment plant serving industrial customers in the Zhangjiagang Free Trade Port Zone first began operations in 2006 with an initial capacity of 20,000 cubic metres per day. The Jiangsu Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau then approved an expansion to the plant capable of treating an additional 15,000 cubic metres per day of high concentrated wastewater at an incoming chemical oxygen demand (COD) of up to 3,000 milligrammes per litre. This marked the first time that a company had been allowed to treat industrial wastewater without pretreatment in China, and approval was granted taking into account the requirements of customers in the free trade zone as well as Sembcorp’s proven capabilities in wastewater treatment and its strong track record in China. A further 20,000 cubic metres per day facility is being built which will reclaim the treated effluent into high grade industrial water and demineralised water. This project builds on Sembcorp’s proven experience of industrial water reclamation in Singapore’s Jurong Island. Both the high COD plant and the water reclamation plant have been selected as government-to-government (G-to-G) water demonstration projects for bilateral cooperation in water management under the China-Singapore Ministerial Meeting on Collaboration in Urban Environment and Water Management.