SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Keppel Corporation has been awarded a contract by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to design, build, own and operate a new large-scale district cooling system (DCS) plant for 30 years located in the Jurong Lake District (JLD). The contract is expected to generate about $950 million for Keppel, comprising payments from real estate developers, owners and occupants for the design and building of the DCS, as well as the supply of chilled water and operations and maintenance of the DCS over 30 years.

The DCS will have a design capacity of 29,000 Refrigeration Tonnes (RT) to supply chilled water and related services to an estimated 1.4 million square metre gross floor area (sqm GFA) and is intended to serve future developments in JLD, including office, business park, residential, retail, hotel and institutional uses. The DCS will be operational in tandem with the completion of future developments in the district.

According to Keppel's announcement, its Keppel’s DCS solution for JLD can achieve superior efficiency levels which are over 30% higher than conventional in-building systems and 18% higher than the National Environmental Agency’s Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES), as well as garner significant cost savings of up to 30% compared to conventional systems. The JLD DCS plant is estimated to be able to abate over 145,000 tonnes of carbon emissions over the 30-year operating period, compared to the industry benchmark. This is equivalent to the carbon abatement of planting 100,000 trees.

In May, Keppel announced it is transforming from a conglomerate into a global alternative real asset manager. The focus will be on an asset light model, building up AUM to $100 billion in the near term.

The Group’s structure will be simplified to form a horizontally integrated model comprising three platforms: Fund Management, Investment and Operating Platforms, all part of one integrated business focused on investing in and creating solutions for a sustainable world.

Following the announcement of energy-as-a-service in Thailand on June 14, Keppel's share price rose by 5% to $7.05 but has since retreated. Keppel ended June 20 at $6.60.

This article first appeared on The Edge Singapore