JTC appoints Engie to build, own and operate underground district cooling system

SUSTAINABLE energy innovation company Engie South East Asia has been appointed by JTC Corporation to build, own and operate an underground district cooling system (DCS) for the Punggol Digital District (PDD).

Tan Boon Khai, chief executive officer (CEO) of JTC and Thomas Baudlot, CEO of Engie South East Asia inked the design, build, own and operate agreement in a signing ceremony on Monday.

Under this agreement, Engie will develop and construct the DCS plant that will be equipped with a cooling capacity of 30,000 refrigeration tons, equivalent to cooling 8,000 four-room HDB flats.

The underground plant will be operated by Engie for 30 years and is expected to be completed in 2024. The district cooling facility is said to provide sustainable and cost-effective air-conditioning to the different amenities in the district, including the business park and retail outlets.

Additionally, the DCS will have a centralised four-kilometre piping network connected to customers in the district and is expected to reduce 3,700 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year at full development. It also seeks to achieve up to 30 per cent reduction in energy consumption compared to standard commercial buildings.

"Increasingly, district cooling solutions will play a critical and essential role to help South-east Asia meet its cooling needs while achieving its sustainability goals towards climate action," said Mr Baudlot, adding that building the DCS with JTC is a step closer towards Singapore's sustainability agenda.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

To align with PDD's vision of being a sustainable and smart mixed-use area, the DCS will be integrated into the district's open digital platform where monitoring and machine learning of building usage patterns will be carried out.

"The open digital platform at PDD integrates various systems across the district, including the district cooling system. This will allow us to track energy consumption patterns, as well as optimise energy distribution and cost efficiencies across the entire district," highlighted David Tan, assistant CEO of development group, JTC.

Key infrastructure for the cooling system will be laid underground to optimise land use. With the implementation of district cooling, more spaces can be used to develop other amenities such as green parks, a statement released on Tuesday said.