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  Business Times 27 Mar 07
Fuel cell community set up at Temasek Polytechnic

Business Times 27 Mar 07
$350m funding over next 5 years for clean energy hub
New setup to implement R&D and pilot projects in green solutions
By Janice Heng

Channel NewsAsia 26 Mar 07
EDB to pump S$350m to develop Singapore's clean energy industry

Straits Times 27 Mar 07
S'pore aims to be key player in green energy push
$350m blueprint encompasses R&D, nurturing firms and exporting products
By Erica Tay

SINGAPORE has unveiled a sweeping $350 million blueprint designed to ensure the country will be a key player in the fast-growing clean energy industry.

The grand plan - outlined by the Economic Development Board (EDB) yesterday - ranges from boosting research into renewable energy technology to helping firms set up mass production facilities to serve the global green market.

The EDB wants to develop Singapore into a 'global clean energy hub' as it believes the market for alternative energy sources is ripe for 'explosive' growth, especially in Asia.

Singapore's clean energy thrust had a $170 million boost recently when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced funding for the National Research Foundation. Together with funds set aside by other government agencies, Mr Lee's announcement brings the total amount of public cash committed to the green energy push to $350 million.

As part of this push, Singapore aims to be a testing ground for new technology such as the latest solar panels or fuel cell engines.

A scheme for some iconic government buildings to use clean energy will be launched in the next month or so, said EDB officials.

'The clean energy industry is experiencing robust global growth due to rising energy demand, climate change concerns and technological advances,' said EDB chairman Lim Siong Guan.

The blueprint has three key planks encompassing the nurturing of a cluster of large and small businesses, the development and testing of new technology, and marketing of exports overseas. All of this is expected to bring Singapore $1.7 billion a year in gross domestic product and create 7,000 jobs by 2015.

The first key plank involves growing a cluster of clean energy businesses, including major global players and homegrown firms.

Second is the development of made-in-Singapore technology. This requires building up research expertise, training talent and funding projects through the Clean Energy Research Programme.

The third plank is the exporting of products and innovations to international markets.

In five to 10 years, demand for solar energy is poised to explode among countries in the Asian sun belt, where an estimated one billion people are without access to grid electricity, said EDB executive director Kenneth Tan.

Technological advances are driving down the cost of solar power to a point where it is becoming viable to these villagers. Being near these markets, Singapore is the ideal base to develop products customised for Asian climates and requirements, said Mr Tan.

The technology required to produce solar panels and fuel cells on a large scale already exists here.

The same expertise is used in Singapore's numerous electronics and precision engineering plants, said Mr Edwin Khew, president of the Singapore Manufacturers' Federation, who is also chairman of the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore. 'If they work together, we can form a whole value-chain from R&D of the technology to producing the technology. We can then form a hub that will be able to attract companies from all over the world and create high-end jobs in the process,' said Mr Khew.

The green industry push will involve multiple government agencies, from the Building and Construction Authority to A*Star or the Agency for Science, Technology and Research. From next month, a Clean Energy Programme Office, led by EDB managing director Ko Kheng Hwa, will coordinate various public programmes.

Channel NewsAsia 26 Mar 07
EDB to pump S$350m to develop Singapore's clean energy industry

SINGAPORE: Singapore will pump in a total of S$350 million to develop its clean energy industry. This includes the previous S$170 million announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently.

The money will be spent to develop clean fuel products and groom manpower over the next five years. There are also plans to export locally developed products overseas.

The fuel cell car, currently on trial in Singapore, is powered by electricity.

Such prototypes and more are expected under the Fuel Cell Community, set up at Temasek Polytechnic's School of Engineering, which is supported by the Economic Development Board (EDB). Its focus is to help local companies and technopreneurs get started on developing fuel cell products.

Companies can even test-drive their prototypes at the poly's S$5.5 million fuel cell application centre, which will be completed in November this year. Cham Yew Thean, Head, Temasek Engineering School, said: "We'll be initiating projects with members and partners in the hope of developing fuel cell commercial products for the market. These fuel cell products will develop an industry. Once we commercialise the products, then we're able to generate an industry manufacturing plant to produce these systems."

The Fuel Cell Community currently has about 17 members, including Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council, which can partner companies to test their products at housing estates.

All these come under Singapore's Clean Energy Industry Blueprint.

Headed by a newly formed Clean Energy Programme Office, the blueprint sets out to fund projects, build world-class research centres and groom manpower to power up the industry in Singapore.

Lim Siong Guan, Chairman, EDB, said: "EDB wants to do the same for the broader clean energy industry, not just fuel cells. We want to position Singapore as a global clean energy hub where clean energy companies can come to incubate, develop and produce solutions not only for Singapore, but to export to the world."

EDB said another reason why Singapore is going big on the clean energy industry is because of the growing market due to rising prices of fuel.

Nearly one billion people live without electricity in South Asia and Southeast Asia, and companies in Singapore can bring their clean energy products into these markets. The clean energy industry is expected to boost Singapore's economy by about S$1.7 billion and create 7,000 jobs by 2015. - CNA/so

Business Times 27 Mar 07
$350m funding over next 5 years for clean energy hub
New setup to implement R&D and pilot projects in green solutions
By JANICE HENG

(SINGAPORE) The government will spend $350 million over the next five years to help make Singapore a world leader in clean energy - in line with its status as a global water technology hub.

To implement and co-ordinate research and development, test-bedding and pilot projects in clean energy, a Clean Energy Programme Office (Cepo) has been set up, led by Economic Development Board managing director Ko Kheng Hwa.

Cepo comprises six government agencies - EDB, the National Environment Agency, the Building and Construction Authority and three ministries. It will be guided by a Clean Energy Executive Committee reporting to the Environmental and Water Technologies Steering Committee headed by Tony Tan. EDB released details of a Clean Energy Industry Blueprint yesterday.

Singapore's involvement will be technology-driven across the entire value chain, from basic R&D to eventual commercialisation and export of solutions.

R&D initiatives include setting up competence centres, extending global links and a Clean Energy Research Programme that will provide competitive funding for projects in industry-required areas.

Besides R&D, Singapore will be marketed as a global test-bed and site of early adoption for clean energy solutions.

Cepo also aims to create a conducive environment for local start-ups and groom talent and manpower for the industry.

'We want to position Singapore as a global clean energy hub where clean energy companies can come to incubate, develop and produce solutions not only for Singapore, but to export to the world,' EDB chairman Lim Siong Guan said yesterday at the launch of the region's first Fuel Cell Community, a grouping initiated and supported by EDB.

Mr Lim heads the Clean Energy Executive Committee with co-chairman Chiang Chie Foo, chairman of the Energy Market Authority. The $350 million in government funding includes $170 million approved this month by the Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC) chaired by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Besides approving the R&D amount for the National Research Foundation, the council added clean energy as a new research focus. Of the other $180 million, some will go towards an R&D Research Fund for the Built Environment - initiated by the Ministry of National Development and managed by the Building and Construction Authority - as well as ongoing work by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research and new test-bedding initiatives to be announced soon.

Singapore is 'not starting from scratch' in this endeavour, said Kenneth Tan, executive director of EDB's New Business Group. The development of the island's clean energy industry will build upon existing expertise and infrastructure in such areas as precision engineering, electronics and chemicals.

Singapore's move into clean energy complements existing efforts in the water sector. Both areas come under the environmental and water technologies industry, which was identified as a key growth area by RIEC last year.

Business Times 27 Mar 07
Fuel cell community set up at Temasek Polytechnic

AS part of the government's efforts to develop Singapore as a clean energy hub, a Fuel Cell Community has been established to aid local companies in the industry.

Initiated by the Economic Development Board and hosted by Temasek Polytechnic, the community will link local start-ups with industry partners. Member firms will receive support in areas such as research and development, test-bedding, and marketing.

'As the pioneer clean energy incubator in Singapore, the Fuel Cell Community led by Temasek Polytechnic is an important step in developing our nascent clean energy industry,' EDB chairman Lim Siong Guan said at its launch yesterday.

The community hopes that local fuel cell companies will develop new solutions and applications that can be exported to the region and beyond, 'establishing Singapore as a serious player in the fuel cell industry', added Mr Lim.

Partners of the Fuel Cell Community include industry players such as Precision Technologies and Singapore Technologies Kinetics, as well as the Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council, which hopes that fuel cell applications can be developed for use in estate management and conservancy work.

Temasek Polytechnic is also setting up a Fuel Cell Application Centre to develop new technology solutions. Costing $5.5 million, the centre is expected to be ready by November.
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