Singapore Corporate News - 13 Nov 2007

SembCorp opens green energy power plant in UK

SEMBCORP Industries (SembCorp) yesterday opened its first renewable energy power plant in the UK - a development that will produce a new stream of revenue for the conglomerate.

The official opening of the £64 million (S$193 million) SembCorp Biomass Power Station - which will burn sustainable wood fuel - makes SembCorp the first Singapore company to own and operate a biomass power plant in the UK.

The plant, at the Wilton International manufacturing site on Teesside in the north-east of England, is the UK's first large-scale wood burning power station.

It will use 300,000 tonnes of wood a year to generate 30 megawatts (MW) of electricity - enough to power 30,000 households. It is also the UK's first totally wood-burning power plant.

According to SembCorp, it will save an estimated 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year compared with a conventional power station - the equivalent in greenhouse gas reduction terms of taking 67,000 cars off the road.

The plant's operations will be classed as carbon neutral, so SembCorp will accumulate carbon allowances to trade as carbon credits.

Besides carbon credits, the plant will generate revenue from the power sold, as well as from Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) and Levy Exemption Certificates (LECs).

The electricity is being sold to E.ON - the UK's largest integrated energy company.

SembCorp's plan to build the UK's first 100 per cent wood-burning power station was announced in March 2005.

Work on the station began that year, and following commissioning, full commercial production has started.

Hyflux more than doubles Q3 net profit to $4.2m

HYFLUX raised net profit 124 per cent year-on-year to $4.2 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30 - a period in which it made significant announcements such as the listing of a business trust backed by its assets.

Revenue rose 76 per cent to $51.9 million for the quarter, with strong increases in industrial and municipal sales, Hyflux said yesterday.

Water treatment in China was the main driver, accounting for more than two-thirds of revenue during the quarter. Sales from the Middle East and Africa contributed 27 per cent.

For the first nine months, net profit fell 31 per cent to just under $10 million, while revenue rose 3 per cent to $104 million.

Staff costs have increased as Hyflux supports expansion plans in various regions, as well as its oil recycling ventures. Raw material and construction costs have also risen.

Still, Hyflux could unlock significant capital if it succeeds in listing a business trust, which could eventually be backed by its 25 water treatment plants in China.