Taliworks Corp Bhd’s indirectly-owned subsidiary, Eco3 Technology and Engineering Pte Ltd, has secured a 30-year exclusive right to design, construct, operate and maintain the industrial waste water treatment and recycled water plant and recycled water piping in the Ningdong Energy Chemical Base Meihua Industrial Park in Ningxia province, China.
Taliworks told Bursa Malaysia yesterday that Eco3 yesterday signed the concession agreement with the Ningdong Energy Chemical Base Management Committee (NDMC).
The project, estimated to cost 145 million renminbi (RM66.84mil), is a build-operate-transfer project for a plant with a treatment capacity of 50 million litres per day.
Construction will be in stages, with the first phase being 30 million litres per day.
The 30-year concession period, which excludes a one-year construction period, will begin after the receipt of environmental approval.
Taliworks said Eco3 was expected to invest 58 million renminbi (RM26.74mil) in proportion to its equity-to-debt ratio of 40:60 for the project.
It will fund the project through shareholders’ loan and/or bank borrowings.
The initial tariff for the waste water treatment charges and the minimum tariff for the recycled water charges are 1.70 renminbi per cu m.
During the concession period, Eco3 has the right to collect these fees, the possession right and right to use the project land, and the right to dispose treated waste water and recycled water from the waste water treatment plant and the recycled water plant.
The project has received all the necessary approvals from the relevant Ningxia autonomous region municipal government departments.
According to Taliworks, the project was the result of its search for similar industrial wasterwater treatment projects in the fast-growing industrial zone in Ningxia after securing the Linhe integrated industrial park wastewater and recycled water treatment plant project in Ningxia from NDMC recently.
“The success of the project and the Linhe project will enhance Taliworks’ capability to secure more similar projects in China where the government is stepping up its enforcement on environmental protection, especially on the control of groundwater pollution,” the company added.
The Linhe project is currently in the construction stage.
The Meihua project is not expected to have any material effect on the net assets per share of the Taliworks group for this financial year ending Dec 31.
However, its gearing will increase from bank borrowings to finance the project.
