Keppel Infrastructure Holdings has entered into a master research collaboration agreement with the National University of Singapore (NUS). The agreement was made in a bid to bolster the former’s low-carbon energy innovation and translational research and development of solutions in smart grid, renewables and clean energy, as well as decarbonisation technologies.
The partnership will also provide educational and training opportunities for students in NUS. It will also provide opportunities for open collaboration with other ecosystem players such as start-ups, SMEs and researchers.
Under the agreement, Keppel Infrastructure and NUS will tap into the NUS Kent Ridge campus for the Keppel Infrastructure-NUS Low Carbon Living Laboratory, where they will create, test bed and scale up several trials including the deployment of commercially viable innovations in distributed energy management and the integration of solar photovoltaics (PV).
Both Keppel Infrastructure and NUS have already jointly identified technologically proven innovations to test bed, demonstrate and adapt in live environments and system as well as subsystem integration.
The selected projects include novel electric vehicle (EV) charging strategies, smart AC/DC hybrid microgrid, innovative district cooling systems (DCS) for buildings integrated with thermal energy storage as well as the experimentation and laboratory proof-of-concept on enhanced seawater desalination pre-treatment technology for carbon dioxide sequestration and scalant removal.
Cindy Lim, CEO of Keppel Infrastructure, says, “We are redoubling our efforts in sustainability-linked innovation and technology development to sharpen Keppel Infrastructure’s competitive advantage in the low-carbon economy, and to partner and add value to industries and our customers in their green transition.”
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“To this end, we are excited to forge this significant partnership with NUS to accelerate the commercial deployment of innovative energy technologies, leveraging digitalisation and decentralisation for speed and scale. This is in line with Keppel’s Vision 2030 which places sustainability firmly at the core of the company’s strategy,” she adds.
Professor Chen Tsuhan, NUS deputy president (Research and Technology), says, “NUS is very excited to harness our strong capabilities in energy and sustainability research in this collaboration with Keppel Infrastructure to co-create commercially viable solutions for a smooth green transition. The NUS Kent Ridge campus will serve as a vibrant living laboratory, where innovative solutions are tested in a realistic operational environment before they are deployed at a larger scale. These technological capabilities will in turn help enhance the climate resilience of our campuses.”
Shares in Keppel Corporation, Keppel Infrastructure’s parent company, closed 5 cents higher or 0.76% up at $6.60 on April 19.
