Mainboard-listed Hyflux has been awarded a contract worth about US$100 million ($129.7 million) to carry out engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works for a seawater desalination plant at Tobruk in northeastern Libya. The project is the first in the country for Hyflux.

The contract was awarded by the General People’s Committee for Utilities of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (the Ministry of Utilities in Libya), the result of an international bid held earlier in the year.

The desalination plant, which will use reverse osmosis technology, will produce 40,000 cubic metres of desalinated water per day when fully operational. Construction works will commence upon satisfaction of conditions set in the EPC contract and will take 24 months from receipt of the Notice to Proceed.

Olivia Lum, Group CEO of Hyflux, says: “Even though this project is not as sizeable as some of our other projects, we are pleased with our increasing presence in North Africa beyond Algeria.”

The contract also includes operations and maintenance of the desalination plant for a period of three years from the start of commercial operations of the plant.