EDB bags six new investments in clean energy

THE Economic Development Board has secured six new investments in clean energy in areas such as solar, energy storage, micro-grids, and digital technologies in Singapore.

Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Koh Poh Koon announced on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the Asia Clean Energy Summit 2017 - part of the Singapore International Energy Week 2017 - that the six projects will create about 400 professional jobs and S$500 million in "cumulative business spending" over the next five years.

One highlight of these new investments is the establishment of a global digital research and development centre by Envision Energy. The company, which provides energy management solutions, will also set up its global headquarters for the Internet of Things & Smart Cities in Singapore.

Dr Koh noted in his speech that the first research and development micro-grid, led by REIDS (Renewable Energy Integration Demonstrator-Singapore) founding members ENGIE and Schneider Electric, will be launched on Tuesday.

The companies are developing multi-energy micro-grid systems comprising a mix of renewables, batteries and hydrogen.

"I am pleased to highlight that REIDS will have three new investors, namely Emerson, EDF and IDSUD, who will partner Nanyang Technological University to develop three additional research & development micro-grids on REIDS," Dr Koh said.

He added that REIDS is also signing agreements with solutions adopters from the region on Tuesday.

"This rich ecosystem of solution providers and adopters co-innovating with each other through REIDS augurs well for Singapore's intent to develop micro-grid solutions that can be adopted in South-east Asia and beyond."

Two companies, VDE Renewables and Narada, investing in energy storage capabilities in Singapore were also highlighted by Dr Koh.

VDE, a quality assurance provider headquartered in Germany, will invest S$20 million to set up an energy storage testing and certification lab in Singapore while Narada, a lead-carbon energy storage system provider from China, will set up a regional energy storage solution centre in Singapore.