Long-term certainty, Keppel Marina East Desalination Plant secures 25-year water deal

Edited by ad hoc news B2B & Pro Desk. Reviewed before publication on 06/15/2026 at 8:34 PM ET. Details in the imprint.

Keppel’s Marina East Desalination Plant in Singapore is built around a 25-year water purchase agreement that provides predictable offtake for its dual-mode treatment capacity of up to 137,000 cubic meters of potable water a day, equivalent to roughly 30 million gallons. The project, developed under the Keppel Infrastructure portfolio for Singapore’s national water agency PUB, is designed to treat either seawater or raw water from the nearby Marina Reservoir depending on weather and demand conditions, giving the city-state additional resilience during dry spells and periods of high consumption.

How the Marina East plant works and what sets it apart

The Marina East Desalination Plant is Singapore’s first large-scale desalination facility built to operate in dual modes, drawing seawater from the Singapore Strait or freshwater from Marina Reservoir, then pushing the feedstock through membrane-based treatment trains to produce drinking water that meets national standards. According to PUB’s project description, the plant’s installed capacity is sized to supply up to 137,000 cubic meters per day, and Keppel’s operating role is anchored in a design-build-own-operate model under a long-term concession. The national water agency lists Marina East as one of Singapore’s four operational desalination plants, highlighting its dual-mode design.

From a technology perspective, the plant combines pre-treatment, reverse osmosis and post-treatment processes, with the choice of intake influencing the energy footprint and operating cost per cubic meter. When Marina Reservoir levels are healthy and water quality is suitable, the facility can run in reservoir mode, which typically requires less energy than full seawater desalination because total dissolved solids are lower; during extended dry periods or when reservoir inflows fall, the system switches to seawater intake to protect overall supply reliability for Singapore’s integrated water grid. Keppel Infrastructure has emphasized the project’s use of efficient pumps, energy-recovery devices and process optimization tools to moderate operating costs over the life of the concession, aligning with Singapore’s broader efforts to keep desalinated water affordable relative to other supply sources.

Physically, the plant is located at Marina East, on the eastern flank of Singapore’s downtown waterfront, with most of its process equipment sited below ground and its roof landscaped as a public green space. That design choice reflects a growing trend in dense Asian cities to integrate critical infrastructure into mixed-use urban environments while minimizing visual and noise impact for nearby residents; in Keppel’s case, the project extends its existing presence in Singapore’s infrastructure sector, where it also operates waste-to-energy and district cooling assets. The facility’s location allows it to tap both the open sea and the inland reservoir via short intake pipelines, reducing transmission losses and simplifying maintenance compared with more remote sites.

Commercially, the Marina East Desalination Plant operates under a 25-year water purchase agreement with PUB, under which the agency commits to pay an availability-based tariff that covers capital recovery and operating costs as long as the plant meets defined performance standards. Keppel Infrastructure Trust, which holds the asset via a project special purpose vehicle, describes the plant as a regulated utility-like concession with revenue indexed to inflation and subject to contractual adjustments over the life of the agreement. Keppel Infrastructure’s own materials state that Marina East is operated under a 25-year concession by its wholly owned subsidiary Keppel Marina East Desalination Plant Pte. Ltd..

For Keppel, the project sits within a broader pivot toward recurring fee-based income from infrastructure assets across energy, environmental and urban solutions segments. Marina East contributes contracted cash flows that are largely insulated from short-term economic cycles, since potable water demand in Singapore is relatively stable and the offtaker is an investment-grade public agency. In recent regulatory filings and presentations, Keppel has framed desalination and other environmental infrastructure assets as core to its long-term strategy of growing asset-light, capital-efficient businesses that generate stable returns over time, complementing more cyclical project development activities in other parts of the group. The company’s investor presentations highlight contracted infrastructure concessions like Marina East as part of its recurring income base.

Within the group’s portfolio, the Marina East Desalination Plant offers an example of Keppel’s shift away from legacy offshore and marine activities toward urban infrastructure that supports sustainability objectives. Water is one of Singapore’s four "national taps" and desalination is expected to play a larger role as climate change affects rainfall patterns, which suggests that well-structured desalination concessions can remain strategically important assets for both the city-state and operators such as Keppel Infrastructure. Shares of Keppel (ISIN SG1H36875612) are listed on the Singapore Exchange, where the stock closed at SGD 7.25 on 06/13/2026.

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