New Energy Efficiency Technology Centre (EETC) to provide energy consultancy services to SMEs, train undergrads in industrial energy efficiency (EE) and upskill existing EE practitioners
JOINT NEWS RELEASE BETWEEN NEA AND SIT
Singapore, 3 October 2019 – The National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) announced today a collaboration to set up an Energy Efficiency Technology Centre (EETC) at SIT. The Centre is aimed at helping companies, in particular small and medium enterprises (SMEs), discover and implement energy efficiency improvement measures, and build up local industrial energy efficiency capabilities.
2 The EETC will catalyse the energy efficiency (EE) improvements of SMEs by increasing the accessibility of energy assessment for SMEs, as well as train a pipeline of SIT engineering undergraduates and upskill existing energy efficiency practitioners in industrial energy efficiency. SMEs on board the programme will receive a diagnosis of their energy performance and recommendation on areas of improvement, while at the same time having their staff trained in energy assessment skills for continual improvement. Individuals in the programme, including staff and undergraduates, will gain actual experience working on real-life EE cases to build up their competencies.
3 NEA will subsequently work with the companies to support the implementation of the recommendations through the Energy Efficiency Fund (E2F). The creation of the EETC completes the pathway for aspiring engineers and energy managers to become certified Energy Efficiency Opportunity Assessors (EEOA) and Chartered Engineers. NEA and SIT signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the EETC at the opening of the National Energy Efficiency Conference (NEEC) 2019. The Centre is set to be launched by the end of the year. Please refer to Annex A for more information on the EETC.
4 The NEEC 2019 is a two-day event to be held over 3 and 4 October for industry experts to share energy management strategies. At the Conference, attended by over 400 local and regional energy efficiency professionals, it was also announced that NEA is planning to launch a new grant under the E2F, to help companies in the digitalisation of their energy management systems. Energy management information systems (EMIS) can help companies more accurately monitor and analyse their energy usage using real-time data, to identify performance gaps in a timely manner, as well as opportunities for continual performance improvement. The E2F will provide co-funding support to the companies for the installation of such systems. More details on the grant will be released at a later stage.
5 As an island-state vulnerable to rising sea levels, global warming and resource scarcity, tackling climate change is an existential challenge and a pressing priority for Singapore. Singapore is committed to doing its part as a responsible global citizen, and the two new initiatives are part of measures to help Singapore meet its Paris Agreement pledge to reduce our emission intensity by 36 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030, and stabilise our emissions with the aim of peaking around 2030. Minimising energy wastage can also produce economic benefits for companies, such as cost savings and an enhanced reputation in a business environment that is increasingly becoming more sensitive to environmental image.
6 Associate Professor Ivan Lee, Vice President (Industry & Community), SIT, commented, “SMEs typically lack the capabilities and resources to identify and implement energy efficiency improvement measures. As Singapore’s University of Applied Learning, SIT aims to build up expertise and capability to meet the demand of SMEs for energy services, so as to improve their business sustainability and lower energy costs. Additionally, the energy assessments at SMEs will provide valuable practical learning opportunities for SIT students to be future EE practitioners.”
Outstanding achievements of 2019 EENP Award recipients
7 The opening day of NEEC 2019 also featured the 9th edition of the Energy Efficiency National Partnership (EENP) Awards – a key platform that provides recognition to Singapore companies and organisations that have adopted a proactive approach towards better energy management. This year, the Award was conferred to nine companies, one energy manager and two public sector organisations who have demonstrated commitment to climate action through their energy conservation efforts.
8 Among the recipients of the EENP Awards 2019 was Mr Lee Kum Chin, the Regional Utilities Manager at the global healthcare company Abbott, who received the award in the “Outstanding Energy Manager of the Year” category. He helped achieve significant cost savings from energy reduction initiatives within a single year at the company’s manufacturing facility. Working together across teams, he inspired and encouraged team members to contribute new ideas in energy savings, then collaborated on implementing the best solutions and resolving any challenges they encountered in reducing energy consumption. As a result of his relentless efforts and passion, he helped Abbott save about 30 GWh of energy in 2018 – equivalent to saving the same amount of energy required for more than 5,500 households in Singapore for a year.
9 For HP Singapore, an Award recipient of the “Excellence in Energy Management” category, the setting of concrete energy reduction and carbon emission abatement goals, combined with the use of energy efficiency technologies, were the key factors behind their success in achieving a CO2 reduction of 3,117 tonnes as of end-2018. A 3.1MWp solar PV system was installed across the roofs of all three of their manufacturing sites in Singapore, moving them closer to their global target to use 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2035. Two sets of compressors were replaced with more energy efficient models, and the addition of a heat pump to an energy intensive production system garnered them annual energy savings amounting to an estimated $51,000.
10 Another EENP Award recipient was Hillgrove Secondary School, which introduced a sustainable environment education (SEE) programme in 2015 to guide students in making green decisions. Striving towards building a green culture in the school, Hillgrove also has a dedicated Green Committee, and is targeting to reduce its energy consumption by 3 per cent (from 2018 levels) by 2021. Showing their commitment towards the cause, the school underwent energy efficiency audits in 2018 to identify and act on areas for improvement. For example, its monthly energy consumption figures are closely tracked and displayed around the school, together with posters on the importance of energy conservation and climate change. Staff and student leaders regularly conduct checks in classrooms to ensure that switches have been turned off and air-conditioning is only used when needed. Moving forward, Hillgrove has plans to replace its lightings to more energy efficient LED lights and install motion sensors in its toilets by 2020.
11 Mr Ananda Ram Bhaskar, Deputy CEO (Environmental Protection) of NEA, commended the recipients of the EENP 2019 Awards and said, “Climate change is one of the greatest challenges that the world is facing today. It is an existential threat to Singapore. To navigate the global push towards implementing climate friendly policies, and increase the competitiveness of our local companies, Singapore businesses will benefit from putting in place structured energy monitoring and management systems, and taking early actions to reduce energy wastage.”
12 Please refer to Annexes B and C for more information on the Awards and details of the recipients s’ accomplishments.
National Energy Efficiency Conference
13 The EENP Awards ceremony kicked off the two days of NEEC. The theme of this year’s NEEC is “Enhancing energy management for sustainable growth”. The Conference put a spotlight on energy efficiency and management as a focus area for companies, in a global environment where both consumers and businesses are placing increasing emphasis on sustainability. The conference also provides a platform for dialogue and thought leadership around Singapore industrial sector’s use of energy, and highlights the latest technical innovations and solutions to improve energy efficiency.
14 In support of the effort for a sustainable future, the NEEC organisers continue to promote environmentally-friendly practices to reduce their carbon footprint. Electricity consumed by the NEEC this year will be fully matched with locally-produced Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) [1]. Please refer to Annex D for more information on the sustainability measures.
[1] RECs are instruments that represent the rights to the environmental, social and non-power attributes of renewable electricity generation. The RECs for the events will largely come from PUB’s floating solar testbed at Tengeh Reservoir.
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Annex A to Annex D