THE Housing Development Board (HDB) on Friday (Feb 25) announced its latest solar leasing tender under the SolarNova programme it co-leads with the Singapore Economic Development Board.

The SolarNova programme accelerates the deployment of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in Singapore and is a part of the HDB Green Towns Programme, which has a target of 540 megawatt-peak (MWp) of solar PV capacity by 2030.

The latest tender, which is the seventh under the programme and offers a solar capacity of 75 MWp, aggregates public sector demand for the installation of solar panels across 1,290 HDB blocks and 99 government sites, the statutory board said in its press statement.

The 1,290 blocks, which will be located in areas under the Bishan-Toa Payoh, Tanjong Pagar and Jurong-Clementi Town Councils, will have a combined solar capacity of 50.5 MWp.

This tender will also require vendors to install smart electrical sub-meters at HDB blocks, a condition that was added in the previous tender in 2021.

The meters will enable HDB and the Town Councils to monitor and analyse energy consumption patterns and the performance of common services at each block, as well as compare energy usage across HDB blocks, tracking demand and supply of energy for individual blocks.

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The data collected will help the Town Councils to optimise maintenance cycles of common services, as well as detect anomalies such as equipment fault.

As for the 99 government sites, they are under 6 agencies, namely the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Ministry of Education (MOE), People's Association (PA), Singapore Polytechnic, Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB), and Ministry of Health.

This includes the MAS Building and Currency House, which will have a combined solar capacity of 143.28 kWp, as well as the SEAB office building, which will have a solar capacity of 27.6 kWp.

Schools will also be a part of this tender, with 57 MOE primary and secondary schools, and 37 sites across the Singapore Poly campus involved. These sites will have a total solar capacity of 24.35 MWp.

PA's Fuchun Community Club will have a solar capacity of 43.86 kWp, while the upcoming Khatib Polyclinic will have a solar capacity of 34.8 kWp.

Through this tender, 21 government organisations have come on board the SolarNova programme, said HDB.

The seventh tender will close on May 20, 2022 and is targeted to be awarded in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Installation of the solar PV systems is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2025.

HDB's chief executive officer Tan Meng Dui said: "Our journey in building up our solar capabilities started 14 years ago on a small scale. Today, there are over 10,000 HDB blocks in Singapore, and we strive to install solar panels on as many HDB blocks as possible."

Commenting on the tender, Tan Kiat How, Minister of State for National Development, said in a Facebook post that Singapore’s tropical climate allows the country to “make good use of solar energy”.

“Power generated helps to run common services such as the lifts and water pumps in the day. This helps our Town Council to meaningfully mitigate the increase in energy cost, translating to savings to our residents,” said Tan.

“The solar energy generated also allows us to potentially achieve net-zero energy consumption for the common areas,” he added. 

Including the latest tender, HDB has committed a total solar capacity of 380 MWp for about 8,400 HDB blocks, which is equivalent to powering 95,000 4-room flats with solar energy, the press statement added.

Of the 8,400 committed blocks, 2,700 have been installed with solar panels, and the rest will have theirs installed in batches over the next 2 to 3 years.

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