Keppel Corporation will be providing so-called “energy-as-a-service” to the China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City (CSGKC).
The MOU for a strategic partnership was signed on June 26 between Keppel and China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City Investment & Development Co, (GKC JV Co), developer of the “Knowledge City”.
The CSGKC is a so-called a “State-level” cooperation project between China and Singapore. It has a total planned area of 232 square kilometres, and is sited some 35 kilometres northeast of Guangzhou’s city centre.
The MOU was signed at the 13th Meeting of the Singapore–Guangdong Collaboration Council (SGCC) held in Singapore today and witnessed by the co-chairmen of the SGCC, Ong Ye Kung, Singapore’s Minister for Health, and Wang Weizhong, Governor of Guangdong.
Under the strategic partnership, Keppel and GKC JV Co will leverage their expertise, technology know-how and resources to explore the design and implementation, as well as operation and management of EaaS in CSGKC.
These comprise energy-saving and management solutions, solar photovoltaic systems, thermal energy batteries, and EV charging stations in buildings and projects.
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The solutions will be initially implemented in smaller integrated developments and mixed-use districts and, later on, expanded to larger scale district and township developments, laying the foundations for the development and advancement of a smart net-zero city.
Keppel’s EaaS is offered to developers, owners and occupants on a long-term subscription model, where the upfront capital expenditure is minimised and lead time to implement and scale the solutions is shortened.
Keppel and GKC JV Co are currently also planning the roll out of EaaS at sites in CSGKC.
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One of the sites is the “China-Singapore Smart Park (CSSP)”, located in the Start-Up Area of CSGKC (Phase 1 Development), which has 180,000 square metres of gross floor area across 12 buildings.
Since its opening in June 2022, the CSSP has attracted more than 60 firms from the digital economy, green development, biomedicine, and smart city development sectors to establish a presence.
“With Guangdong’s rapid development, we look forward to working closely with our eco-system partners to identify more of such projects to scale up EaaS deployment across Guangzhou Knowledge City,” says Cindy Lim, CEO of Keppel’s infrastructure division.
“Looking ahead, Keppel also aims to leverage the strong foundations to pursue opportunities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area,” she adds.
Chen Changxin, CEO of GKC JV Co says “green development” is one of the key areas in the China-Singapore cooperation to upgrade and enhance the CSGKC. It is also an important engine for promoting CSGKC’s high-quality development.
“We will work together with Keppel to design and implement smart energy solutions, jointly promoting the innovative development of low carbon technologies in the CSGKC and the transformation of regional energy.
“In the next step, we will make every effort to facilitate the efficient implementation of the project and contribute to CSGKC's endeavour to become a model for China’s 'dual carbon' goal,” says Chen.
Less than a fortnight earlier, on June 14, Keppel announced that through its joint venture with Decarb Corporation Company, it has secured two contracts to provide Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) for Centara Watergate and Watergate Pavilion, a hotel and a shopping mall, located in the vicinity of Sam Yan Smart City in Bangkok.
