The world’s largest experimental energy grid, and the first in South-east Asia, is being developed on Jurong Island.
The $38 million venture aims to make Singapore a ‘living laboratory’ where firms from around the world can develop, test-bed and implement potentially lucrative new energy technologies.
For instance, research done there could mean future power grids will be able to take energy from alternative sources such as solar cells and wind turbines.
And owners of electric cars of the future could be able to sell any surplus energy back to these power grids.
The venture is being led by A*Star’s Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences (Ices), which will form partnerships with companies to develop these ‘smart’ power grids of the future.
Yesterday, local companies SP PowerGrid and CEI Contract Manufacturing signed formal agreements to work at the centre, while engine maker Rolls-Royce and wind turbine giant, Vestas, signed letters of intent for future collaboration.
The new Experimental Power Grid Centre (EPGC) will consist of a 0.47ha research facility on Jurong Island, set to be ready in the second half of next year, and a remote command and control centre at Fusionopolis - already up and running - for energy simulations.
The centre will employ 20 to 25 people, including 15 PhD holders and researchers.
AStar hopes to have 10 large companies working in partnership with the new centre by the time it is up and running, said Prof Low Teck Seng, deputy managing director for research at AStar.
Ministry of Trade and Industry Permanent Secretary Ravi Menon said many grids around the world are not equipped for new demands being placed on them.
These demands include integrating renewable energy sources, the rising use of different sources of power in the chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors, and consumer demand for more information, choice and control in their energy use.
‘Meeting these demands will require new technologies and system-level solutions,’ said Mr Menon, guest of honour at the groundbreaking ceremony.
The facility is to be built for $25 million by a Meiden Singapore-led consortium at the Ices premises on Jurong Island.
It will have a one megawatt capacity, making it the world’s largest such experimental power grid centre. Similar research centres, mainly in the United States, Europe and Japan, have capacities of about half that - less than 550kw.
One megawatt of electricity can power 1-1/2 or two HDB blocks, said SP PowerGrid’s deputy managing director of planning and strategy, Mr Jimmy Khoo.
Dr Keith Carpenter, Ices executive director, said the grid needed this large capacity. ‘If you are looking at a (power) system to feed a region or a housing estate, then you’re talking about this sort of scale. So if we want the research to be valid in that environment, we have to have the capability to go to this level.’
Its scale will also allow for a larger variety of sources to be put into a power grid.
But rather than focusing on the size, the centre’s unique feature is its flexibility, said Associate Professor Ashwin Khambadkone, its programme director.
‘Emulators’ there will be able to mimic other energy sources such as wind turbines and solar panels. Eventually, the facility should be able to emulate any grid, from Japan to the US, Prof Ashwin said.
Dr Carpenter said developing a flexible system on a significant scale meant it could become a leader within five years.
Initial project funding is coming from the Government’s Reinvestment Fund. After that, funding will come from A*Star’s research funds, said Prof Low.
The initial sponsors are four government agencies: the Economic Development Board, the Energy Market Authority, JTC Corp and the National Environment Agency.
‘We think that the EPGC provides a unique platform for the industry as we address next generation technologies, and we are hoping that it will be a beachhead for them to tap into other resources we have in A*Star,’ said Prof Low.
‘What we hope we will achieve is a contribution to developing Singapore as a living lab for companies that hope to experiment with and develop new technologies that could see applications in the new economies of the future.’
