Energy Efficiency

  1. The National Environment Agency
  2. Our Services
  3. Climate Change & Energy Efficiency
  4. Energy Efficiency
  5. Industrial Sector

Industrial Sector

The industry sector is the largest energy-consuming sector in Singapore and hence there is significant potential for energy savings through better and sustained energy management. Better energy management leads to improvement in energy efficiency, which minimises energy wastages, cuts energy costs and helps companies reduce their bottom lines. 

  • Energy Conservation Act (ECA)

The ECA was enacted in June 2012, and the Energy Conservation (Energy Management Practices) Regulations came into force on 22 April 2013. Through the ECA, mandatory energy management practices were introduced, aiming to focus management attention on proper energy management, as well as to level up laggards that manage energy use inadequately. 

In June 2017, the ECA was enhanced to stipulate more energy management practices as part of Singapore's efforts to achieve its pledge under the Paris Agreement on climate change to reduce emission intensity by 36% from 2005 levels by 2030, and to stabilise emissions with the aim of peaking around 2030. 

The enhancements include strengthening the measurement and reporting requirements for greenhouse gas emissions, requiring companies to implement energy management system,  undertake regular energy efficiency opportunity assessments or implement energy performance monitoring, and introducing minimum energy efficiency standards for common industrial equipment and systems.

Find out more about the up-coming enhancements to the ECA.

1. News Release
2. Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act 2017

 

  • Mandatory Energy Management Practices for Existing Industrial Facilities

With effect from 22 April 2013, a corporation will be a registrable corporation under the ECA if it meets the following qualifications:

  1. It has operational control over a business activity which has attained the energy use threshold (54TJ of energy used per calendar year) in at least 2 out of the 3 preceding calendar years; and

  2. The business activity is carried out at a single site and is attributable to one of the following sectors:
  • manufacturing and manufacturing-related services;
  • supply of electricity, gas, steam, compressed air and chilled water for air-conditioning; and
  • water supply and sewage and waste management.

Once registered, corporations will be required to implement the following energy management practices:

  1. appoint an energy manager;
  2. monitor and report energy use and greenhouse gas emissions annually; and
  3. submit energy efficiency improvement plans annually.

Click here to find out more.

Useful Documents and Tools

  1. Industry Briefing on the Mandatory Energy Management Requirements (25 & 26 March 2013) [PDF, 1.23 MB]
  2. Mandatory Energy Management Requirements Brochure [PDF, 1.04 MB]
  3. Energy Consumption Calculator: Assess whether the Annual Energy Consumption of a Company exceeds 54 TJ [XLS, 79.5 KB]
  4. Step-by-step Guide to Registering with NEA via the EDMA portal [PDF, 2.95 MB]
  5. FAQ
  
  • Registration and Submission Portal

The online portal facilitates registration of companies and submission of energy use reports and energy efficiency improvement plans as required under the ECA. Companies who are under the ambit of the Public Utilities (Water Supply) Regulations can use the same portal to submit notifications and water efficiency management plans to the Public Utilities Board.

  • Mandatory Energy Management Practices for New Industrial Facilities and Major Expansions

With effect from 1 October 2018, owners of New Ventures (new industrial facilities and major expansions of existing facilities) with an estimated Annual Energy Consumption (AEC) ≥ 54TJ must review the facility design for energy efficiency and develop economically feasible energy efficiency opportunities, by conducting an energy efficiency opportunities assessment (EEOA) and submitting the EEOA report.

An owner of a New Venture is also advised to plan for and install meters and instruments at energy-consuming systems that account for at least 80% of the New Venture facility’s annual energy consumption.

Click here to find out more.

  • Mandatory Energy Management Practices for Registered Corporations (RCs)

With effect from 1 January 2020, a registered corporation under the ECA must, for each relevant business activity under its operational control, conduct an Energy Efficiency Opportunities Assessment (EEOA) for the relevant business activity, and submit an assessment report endorsed by a certified EEO assessor to NEA before the expiry of their respective six-year assessment period.

The EEOA shall cover:

  1. Energy Consuming Systems (ECSs ) consuming fuel or energy commodities totalling at least 80% of the total energy consumption of the business activity; and
  2. Other ECSs consuming energy output from systems identified in (A), either directly or indirectly.

In the identification of ECSs that make up at least 80% of the total energy consumption, RCs shall make use of the data acquired during a chosen reference period of 12 consecutive months within the six-year assessment period.

Click here to find out more.

As part of the National Environment Agency’s (NEA) on-going efforts to improve energy efficiency in Singapore industry, water-cooled chilled water systems in industrial facilities [1] must conform to minimum energy efficiency requirements from 1 December 2020 onwards.

Scope of Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES)

  1. The Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) will cover electrically-driven, water-cooled chilled water systems in industrial facilities that:

    a) has a total installed capacity(1)  of 1055 kW (300 RT) or more; and

    b) produces chilled water at a temperature of 3°C or higher

    Chillers solely utilising brine or glycol and air-cooled chillers that form part of the water-cooled chilled water system will be exempted.

  2. The MEES will be applied to a water-cooled chilled water system, comprising, among others, chillers, chilled water pumps, condenser water pumps and cooling towers that uses chilled water as the medium to transfer heat.

  3. An industrial facility refers to: 

a) any single-user facility that has a business activity attributable to any of the following industry sectors:

i) manufacturing and manufacturing-related services;
ii) supply of electricity, gas, steam, compressed air and chilled water for air-conditioning; and
iii) water supply and sewage and waste management

b) any multi-user facility that is sited on URA Masterplan B1 or B2 zone.


Compliance Timeline

  1. New Industrial Facilities: Water-cooled chilled water systems in a new industrial facility that requires Planning Permission (PP) clearance or equivalent on or after 1 December 2020 must conform to MEES within 3 months of:

    a) one year after the TOP is issued for a new single-user industrial facility.; and
    b) three years after TOP or when 80 per cent of occupancy is reached, whichever is earlier, for a new multi-user industrial facility

  2. Existing Industrial Facilities: Water-cooled chilled water systems installed in existing industrial facilities must conform to MEES by the following deadlines:

    Type of industrial facility

    Compliance Deadline

    Industrial facilities regulated under the ECA

    By 1 December 2025

    All other industrial facilities

    By 1 December 2029


Detailed Requirement

Operating system performance

  1. Chilled water systems in industrial facilities may be used for space or process cooling. In process cooling, a wide range of chilled water supply temperatures may be used. As temperature has a direct effect on the performance of a chiller, and thus the performance of a chilled water system, the performance standards vary for chilled water systems that operate at different chilled water supply temperatures.

  2. The table below displays the MEES for different chilled water supply temperatures.

Chilled water supply temperature

(˚C)(2)

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

≥10

MEES

in kWe/kWc(3) (kW/RT(4)

0.203

(0.71)

0.200

(0.70)

0.197

(0.69)

0.194

(0.68)

0.191

(0.67)

0.188

(0.66)

0.185

(0.65)

Energy performance for chilled water supply temperature ≥10°C to be improved from 0.185 kWe/kWc at 9°C by 0.003 kWe/kWc for every 1°C increase in chilled water supply temperature

Measurement & Verification System

To show that operating chilled water system performances meet MEES, permanent measurement and verification (M&V) systems must be installed. A M&V system should be linked to a monitoring system such as a building automation system (BAS) or a standalone energy management system (EMS). The monitoring system should be capable of:

  1. displaying and trend logging performance parameters; and
  2. generating a report, consisting of annual aggregated data in a standard reporting format.(This requirement will be imposed at a later date)

Refer to the attached file on M&V requirements and guidelines for MEES.

First Report for New and Existing Industrial Facilities

  1. By the compliance deadline, a report must be submitted to NEA to show that:

    a) operating chilled water system performance meets the MEES threshold; and
    b) M&V system is accurate, which is demonstrated through a heat balance substantiating test5  where the heat balance is within 5% for 80% of the operating points during the assessment period.

  2. The report must be:

    a) prepared and signed off by an Energy Efficiency Opportunities (EEO) Assessor  with systems-specific experience in chilled water systems or a Professional Engineer in the branch of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering or chemical engineering; and
    b) endorsed by the Chief Executive (or equivalent) of the company

Subsequent Reporting for Existing Industrial Facilities

After the approval of the First Report, key performance data of the chilled water system will have to be reported to NEA on a periodic basis to demonstrate that the operating system performance is maintained. Data should be aggregated in the monitoring system, downloaded in a standard reporting format and uploaded onto a NEA-designated online reporting portal. (This requirement will be imposed at a later date)

Review by NEA

Annually, NEA will review the annual average operating system performance and other key performance data of the chilled water system. NEA may also conduct on-site verification on the accuracy of the M&V system.

In the event that a company fails to comply with any of the requirements, the company may be required to take corrective actions to ensure compliance. Fines will be imposed for non-compliance. 

The following information should be kept for a minimum of 5 years:
- First Report, annual reports and all information used in producing the reports eg raw data and calculations6
- Technical specifications of chilled water system components
- All input parameters and settings for the permanent instrumentations
- Instruments’ calibration certificates from accredited laboratories and/or their factory calibration certificates from manufacturers
- As-built schematic drawings of the chilled water system

Grants

Grants are available to support companies to upgrade their water-cooled chilled water systems before the mandatory requirements kick in. Industrial companies can email NEA_E2F@nea.gov.sg for more information.

(1) includes both operating and standby chillers
(2)To be rounded up to the nearest whole number.
(3) kWe/kWc = Total energy consumption of the chilled water system (kWhe) during the assessment period ÷ total cooling load produced by the system (kWhc) during the assessment period(4) kW/RT = Total energy consumption of the chilled water system (kWhe) during the assessment period ÷ total cooling load produced by the system (RTh) during the assessment period
(5)This indicator is the ratio of the difference between the heat input and the heat output, to the heat output of the chilled water system. Ideally, according to the law of conservation of energy, heat input to a system = heat output from a system. This indicator is used to determine the quality of the measurements i.e. the uncertainty, installation and position of the instruments.  
(6) Information recorded and calculated in the BAS/EMS should be kept in the EMS for a minimum of 3 years

The introduction of MEPS for common industrial equipment and systems will lead to the phase out of inefficient models from the market and catalyse the transformation of the market towards more efficient models. Besides enjoying life-cycle cost savings from lower energy consumption, companies will also reduce their carbon footprint.

  • Three-phase 50 Hz induction motors

With effect from 1 October 2018, single speed, three-phase 50 Hz induction motors must have a minimum energy efficiency level of IE3.

  • Three-phase Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) air-conditioners

With effect from 1 April 2021, all three-phase VRF air-conditioners must comply with MELS and MEPS.  

Click here to find out more.

  • Energy Efficiency Fund (E2F)

E2F is designed to support companies in the industrial sector to be more energy efficient. It encourages owners and operators of facilities to:

  • Design for Efficiency: Integrate energy and resource efficiency improvements into their development plans early in the design stage;

  • Energy Assessment: Conduct a detailed energy assessment for their facilities to identify energy efficiency improvement opportunities;

  • Energy Efficient Technologies: Invest in energy efficient equipment or technologies; and

  • Energy Management Information System: Invest in an Energy Management Information System (EMIS) to plan, monitor and take action to continually improve and maintain energy performance;

  • Low-GWP Refrigerants Chillers: Switch to water-cooled chillers using refrigerants of low global warming potential (GWP).

Click here to find out more about the E2F

  • Singapore Certified Energy Manager (SCEM) Training Grant

The SCEM Training Grant is a co-funding scheme administered by Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) to develop local expertise and capability in professional energy management. The scheme is targeted at engineers/ managers who manage manufacturing facilities or provide energy consulting services.

  • Resource Efficiency Grant for Energy (REG(E))

EDB’s Resource Efficiency Grant for Energy (REG(E)) supports manufacturing facilities and data centres to be more energy efficient and improve competitiveness. Grant support for REG(E) will correspond to the amount of carbon abatement, up to the maximum cap of 50% of qualifying costs.

The EENP is a voluntary partnership programme to support companies in their energy efficiency efforts through learning network activities, energy efficiency-related resources, incentives and recognition.

Join the EENP to enjoy discounts on training programmes and workshops on energy efficiency and energy management.

An ESCO is a company dedicated to provision of energy efficient technology and services including financing, design, implementation and management of projects.

Find out more about ESCO Accreditation Scheme and the list of accredited ESCOs here.

The Energy Efficiency Fund (E2F) supports energy efficiency efforts at industrial facilities – from the efficient design of new facilities to operation of industrial facilities.
Click here to learn more about the success stories.

The Energy Efficiency Promotion Centre (EEPC) serves as a convenient one-stop centre for providing industrial energy efficiency related resources.  Companies may contact EEPC for assistance on the mandatory energy management requirements under the Energy Conservation Act, energy efficiency investments, information on energy efficiency measures, available incentives, energy efficiency training, or to link up with knowledge partners.

EEPC contacts:
Email: nea_eepc@nea.gov.sg