SINGAPORE - A wholly-owned unit of Keppel Corporation has signed a 25-year water purchase agreement with national water agency PUB for Singapore's fourth desalination plant.

The agreement was signed through Keppel Infrastructure Holdings's wholly-owned unit Marina East Water, KepCorp announced in a statement on Friday.

The desalination plant, which will be located in Marina East, will be constructed under a Design, Build, Own and Operate (DBOO) model and is expected to be operational in 2020.

When completed, the plant will be able to produce 137,000 cubic metres of fresh drinking water a day.

The plant will be the first in Singapore with the ability to treat sea water, and fresh water from the Marina Reservoir, by using reverse osmosis and other advanced membrane technology.

KepCorp said the contract is not expected to have a material impact on its earnings per share or net tangible assets per share for the current financial year.