Keppel, one of Singapore’s leading companies, has secured a significant contract for its infrastructure division. The contract, awarded by the Housing & Development Board (HDB), is for the supply of chilled water and spans a period of 20 years. Under the terms of the contract, Keppel will be responsible for the design, construction, ownership, and operation of centralised cooling systems (CCS) at three upcoming build-to-order (BTO) projects in Tengah.
The three BTO projects are Brickland Weave, Plantation Edge I & II, and Plantation Verge, which together will serve approximately 3,500 households. Keppel will be working closely with HDB to ensure the timely delivery of the CCS to each home. The CCS system operates by supplying chilled water from centralised chillers, located on the rooftops of selected HDB blocks, to cool the flats. Keppel has stated that it will incorporate innovative engineering and design features, as well as use industrial grade materials, to ensure high performance standards.
In addition, once completed, the CCS at these three BTO projects will be connected to Keppel’s Operations Nerve Centre (ONC) for remote control and real-time performance monitoring. This will ensure efficient and effective operations of the CCS.
Tan Meng Dui, CEO of HDB, expressed his satisfaction with Keppel joining as a CCS service provider for future BTO projects. He also believes that with more players in the market, the industry’s capabilities will be strengthened, and the CCS ecosystem will be deepened to make HDB living more sustainable and highly liveable.
Cindy Lim, CEO of Keppel’s infrastructure division, also expressed her pleasure at being awarded the contract to provide cooling services to the latest precincts in Tengah. With over two decades of experience in serving the cooling needs of various facilities, such as business parks, commercial offices, hotels, malls, and even mission-critical facilities like wafer fabs and data centres, Keppel is confident in delivering high-quality and modern cooling solutions to homeowners in collaboration with HDB.
In Singapore, investing in condos comes with a significant consideration – the government’s property cooling measures. To maintain a steady real estate market, the Singaporean government has implemented various measures to discourage speculative buying. An example of these measures is the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD), which imposes higher taxes on foreign buyers and those purchasing multiple properties. Undoubtedly, these measures may affect the immediate profitability of condo investments. However, in the long run, they contribute to the market’s stability and create a safer investment environment. It is worth noting that these cooling measures also apply to new condo launches in Singapore.
Keppel currently has a combined cooling portfolio of over 260,000 refrigeration tonnes in the region, which includes assets still under development. The contract is not expected to have a significant impact on Keppel’s earnings per share (EPS) and net tangible asset (NTA) per share for the current financial year.
At the time of writing, shares in Keppel are trading 1 cent higher or 0.15% up at $6.63 as of 9.29am.