Singapore’s Hyflux, which has just posted a 28 per cent year-on-year fall in profits, says that the group aims to achieve the financial close for its Dahej seawater desalination project in India in the first half of 2014.
Hyflux blames its drop in net profit - from Sing$ 61 million (US$ 48.2 million) at the end of 2012 to Sing$ 44 million (US$ 34.8 million) on 31 December 2013 - on the timing of projects completed during the year. These included the 318,500 m³/d Tuaspring Desalination Plant in Singapore, which went online in September 2013.
The group is in a consortium with Hitachi to build the 336,000 m³/d Dahej desalination plant. Hitachi concluded a water purchase agreement in January 2013 with Dahej SEZ Ltd (DSL), the management company of the Dahej Special Economic Zone, for water from its proposed desalination plant in the zone.
At that time, the consortium was aiming to conduct discussions toward the final agreement with DSL planned for around fall 2013, after obtaining environmental assessment approval and achieving financial close.
Now, in its full-year report released on 20 February 2014, Hyflux says, “The group expects a slower first half in FY2014 due to the timing of projects. The group aims to achieve the financial close for its Dahej project in India in the first half of FY2014, which will signal the start of engineering, procurement and construction works on the desalination plant.”
