• Alternative Energy Market Set to Soar
• Comprehensive Blueprint for Clean Energy
• Committed to Growing Industry
• CEPO Schemes
• Forging Solar Research Leadership
• A Head Start into Solar
• A Balanced Roadmap for Biofuels
• Other Alternative Energies
• Green Buildings
• Singapore as Asia’s Carbon Hub

Climate change, high oil prices, and global concerns about energy security - these are prime factors fuelling the new wave of investment in alternative energy.

Singapore’s aim is to be a global hub where clean energy products are developed, made, and exported overseas. Since Singapore identified the Clean Energy industry as a strategic growth area for our economy last year, the city-state began to implement a comprehensive blueprint to grow the industry, starting with an initial funding support of S$350 million from the government. This blueprint comprises of five key pillars: R&D, developing manpower, grooming Singapore-based enterprises, branding the industry internationally, and growing a vibrant industry ecosystem.

Singapore’s clean energy push centres on solar energy, given its strategic location in the tropical sunbelt. Besides solar, resources are also being channelled towards biofuels, wind energy, tidal energy, energy efficiency and carbon services. By 2015, the clean energy industry is expected to contribute S$1.7 billion to Singapore’s gross domestic product and employ 7,000. To date, the city-state has attracted leading industry players such as Renewable Energy Corporation and Vestas Wind Systems of Denmark.

To synergise efforts to grow the industry, the Clean Energy Programme Office (CEPO) was formed. CEPO is an inter-agency workgroup comprising of different governmental agencies and is responsible for planning and executing strategies to develop Singapore into a global clean energy hub.
 

CEPO has since launched several complementary programmes. The Solar Capability Scheme (SCS) and Clean Energy Research and Testbedding (CERT) programme are two of several initiatives by CEPO to groom the solar industry in Singapore.

Launched in 2008 for the private sector, the S$20 million SCS seeks to encourage innovative design and integration of solar panels into green buildings. The objective of the scheme is to build up the capabilities of companies in the solar ecosystem through  increased adoption by lead users in Singapore. 

The S$17 million CERT is targeted at the public sector and complements the SCS.
Launched in 2007, CERT aims to provide opportunities for companies to develop and trial Clean Energy applications and solutions using government buildings and facilities in Singapore.

Another CEPO programme is the S$50 million Clean Energy Research Programme which supports R&D efforts in our education initiatives and the industry.

1. S$50 million Clean Energy Research Programme (CERP)
2. S$25 million NRF (Clean Energy) PhD Scholarships and Company Scholarship
3. Quickstart: Quickstart is a repayable grant programme that seeks to nurture Singapore-based cleantech startups under the guidance of approved incubators. The aim is to ensure that there is a conducive local landscape in which startup companies can thrive and become global players in the cleantech industry.
4. S$17 million Clean Energy Research & Testbedding Programme (CERT)
5. S$20 Million Solar Capability Scheme (SCS)

In 2008, one of the most comprehensive solar research centres in Asia – The Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) – was established. Housed at the National University of Singapore, the centre will draw upon the university’s strengths in research areas such as nano-science, silicon thin film technology, and semiconductor processing. SERIS is due to see investments totalling S$130 million over five years and will start with 25 researchers, expanding to about 90 in five years. The centre will be led by prominent solar scientist Professor Joachim Luther, who was formerly the director of the renowned Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Germany.

Manufacturing solar wafers, cells and modules has many parallels with semiconductor and electronics manufacturing processes. Our position as a major semiconductor hub, coupled with all-round capabilities from the precision engineering and chemicals industries, allows us a headstart in the solar industry.

In addition, Singapore is an efficient base for companies keen to develop potential cutting-edge clean energy solutions tailored for Asia given its excellent supply chain capabilities and linkages to the region. For instance, there are about one billion people across Asia without access to grid electricity which represents an untapped market for solar power.

The country’s strong foundation in oil lends the biofuels industry not only ready infrastructure and synergies with downstream chemical projects, but also infrastructure for biofuels trading activities. Come 2010, Singapore will be home to the world’s most advanced and largest commercial-scale biodiesel facility producing diesel fuel from renewable feedstocks. This 1.5 generation biofuel plant constructed by Neste Oil is testament to the country’s strong base of biofuels manufacturing investments. Singapore is also one of the first locations in Asia for biodiesel pricing after Platts launched daily assessments for biodiesel loading in Southeast Asia in January 2008. In addition, the Republic actively backs industry R&D to develop and deploy biofuel technologies of the second generation and beyond. These technologies will focus on sustainable and higher value renewable products.

Singapore’s extensive connectivity with the regional markets and highly cosmopolitan workforce has also attracted the R&D efforts of international technology players in the wind and tidal energy sectors, further fortifying our innovation capabilities in the cleantech domain. Vestas Wind Systems, the world’s top wind technology company, will invest up to S$500 million over the next 10 years to develop its largest R&D centre outside of its home country, Denmark, here. Vestas has already opened its regional headquarters in Singapore in 2007.

Singapore is one of the few countries in the world to mandate green designs for all new buildings from early 2008. The Building & Construction Authority (BCA) Green Mark Scheme encourages green awareness in the sectors of construction and real estate. Leveraging the growing regional recognition received by the scheme, Singapore is well-positioned to capture the growth in this sector through the increased incorporation of cutting-edge clean energy technologies in upcoming and existing building developments.

In 2009, BCA’s Zero Energy Building (ZEB) @ BCA Academy will be completed and will serve as a showcase and testbed of advanced green building technologies while serving as a hub for research and development work in energy efficiency and green buildings. The ZEB, which is the first of its kind in Singapore, will take in a net of zero energy from the grid throughout the year, while depending primarily on solar systems to fulfil its energy needs.

The size of the global carbon industry was about US$63 billion in 2007, with the majority of carbon activities taking place in Europe because of its cap and trade system. Under the Kyoto Protocol, developed countries can purchase carbon credits from developing countries, most of which are located in Asia. Singapore is well positioned to leverage our strengths as a financial and headquarters hub to attract the entire ecosystem that comprises traders and exchanges, project consultants, carbon funds and professional services. For example, in the year 2006, Asia Carbon has set up Asia’s first carbon exchange here to capture carbon trading opportunities in the region.