Tembusu Multi Utilities Complex, owned by Tuas Power and where the first utility plant to burn coal in Singapore located, officially opened on Wednesday.

The complex, costing 2 billion Singapore dollars (1.61 billion U.S. dollars), is said to be the first new facility which China's Huaneng has built in Singapore since its acquisition of the local- based Tuas Power.

It is also the largest investment by any Chinese firm in Singapore, said Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang at the opening ceremony.

The facility is said to burn coal, palm kernel shells, woodchips, gas and diesel to supply steam and electricity to petrochemical firms on Jurong Island, and use low-ash, low-sulphur coal, filters and enclosed transport systems to minimise pollution.

Local paper Straits Times said before that the facility's customers like Asahi Kasei, Dairen and Lanxess, will save about 10 percent on their utility bills as fuel costs are about 10 percent lower than burning gas alone.

The electricity generated from the plant which may not sell to the customers, will be supplied to the national grid, the report added.

Nowadays, the energy and chemicals sector is a pillar of the Singapore economy, contributing about a third of the manufacturing output, said Lim. The newly-opened plant is said to employ about 100 workers, nine in ten of whom are Singaporean. It is also seeking to fill about 50 more positions.

The operator of the plant, Tuas Power, is owned by Chinese firm China Huaneng Group. The latter, through its wholly-owned subsidiary SinoSing Power, successfully acquired Tuas Power from Temasek Holdings in March of 2008.

Lim said the "opening is therefore not just a celebration of Huaneng's investment, but also a reflection of deepening economic ties between Singapore and China." Endi

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