Two players team up to develop energy solutions in push to reduce carbon footprint

The Energy Market Authority (EMA) and Keppel Offshore & Marine have established a $10 million partnership and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop energy solutions in the areas of distributed energy resources, digitalisation, and emerging low carbon alternatives.

As part of this MOU, EMA and Keppel are launching a grant call for solutions relating to energy storage systems and smart power grids for the offshore and marine environment.

According to a joint statement released on Wednesday, these solutions could reduce overall energy usage and carbon footprint while enhancing overall operational efficiency.

Interested companies, research institutes, and institutes of higher learning can participate in a grant call established to encourage innovation and capability building for the wider industry ecosystem in Singapore. The grant will be open until 24 June 2020. The insights derived from the grant call could be translated into potential solutions to enhance the grid.

Shortlisted participants will have the opportunity to testbed their solutions through Keppel’s Floating Living Lab (FLL), the first-of-its-kind offshore floating testbed in Singapore. 

Expected to be operational by end 2021, Keppel’s FLL will provide a platform for the industry and the research community to testbed and commercialise promising power and technology solutions for the marine sector.

The FLL will have LNG bunkering facilities for harbour crafts and small vessels. It will also house an embedded power generation system to power Keppel’s operations, with excess electricity to be exported to the national grid.

Ngiam Shih Chun, chief executive of EMA, said: “We hope to develop innovative energy solutions for the marine sector through this partnership with Keppel O&M.

“We are seeking solutions that incorporate the use of cleaner energy, optimise energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions. By doing so, we are building Singapore’s energy story by co-creating solutions for a more sustainable energy future with stakeholders”.

Chris Ong, CEO of Keppel O&M, added: “We are pleased to be able to partner EMA on developing innovative solutions for the energy and marine space.

“Our use of digitalisation and data analytics will reduce energy waste and increase the use of cleaner energy. The insights gleaned can also help us develop integrated solutions across the Keppel Group for sustainable urbanisation.

“Our Floating Living Lab will help to reduce our carbon footprint by leveraging and test-bedding clean floating energy solutions.

“At the same time, it enables Keppel O&M to provide power for our own operations, support customers in delivering cleaner power, grow our LNG bunkering services and improve the efficiency of the current supply chain while extending our gas offerings in the floating power segment”.

It is worth noting that the FLL will also be able to refuel LNG to FueLNG’s bunker vessel. The pressurised LNG tanks and cargo handling system are suitable for simultaneous bunkering and power generation.