Singapore set aside $30 million for new energy

Posted date: April 08, 2015 In: News, Smart Energy | comment : 0

Utilities company Singapore Power (SP) and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) will set aside S$30 million over the next five years to develop solutions for meeting the Republic’s future energy needs.

The S$30 million, a co-investment by both parties, will be used by a new Centre of Excellence for Energy Development and Piloting launched by SP on Thursday (Apr 2). The centre will drive efforts to pilot and integrate cutting-edge technologies to the country’s infrastructure networks, as well as as look at possible commercialisation opportunities.

A 20-man team will manage the centre, which will also collaborate with industry players such as equipment suppliers to develop solutions that can be used to serve the national grid. The centre also aims to develop and commercialise the next generation of energy network technologies.

Another part of its focus will be on green energy, or the adoption of renewable sources, to promote sustainable development.

The centre will also explore more efficient ways to deploy manpower, so as to work smarter. For example, remote sensors and intelligent drones could be used for monitoring tasks, freeing up skilled staff for higher order work.

Technologies to be explored by the centre cover areas such as instrumentation and control, grid communications, and smart energy management.

Mr Wong Kim Yin, group chief executive of Singapore Power, said: “We are hoping that this platform will enable us to engage industry partners such as equipment suppliers and solution providers to test bed new solutions – hopefully, with the aim to implement them in our infrastructure. By doing that, we hope to continue to be able to serve Singapore consumers with cost-reliable, cost-effective and reliable energy services.”

Singapore Power is calling industry players to submit proposals for research and development. The proposals will be shortlisted and then given the green light to proceed in Q4 2015 and Q1 2016.

Mr Lee Ee Beck, senior vice president of ST Electronics, said the company was interested in submitting a proposal: “Communications and sensor network, the internet of things, and even data analytics – I think these are a few areas that are certainly very important that we can start off with. Hopefully, some of these proven solutions can be used for Smart Nation projects in Singapore.”