Second Grant Call to Supercharge Singapore’s Clean Energy Future

15 Jul 2022

      Today at the Energy Market Authority’s (EMA) annual Energy Innovation 2022 event, EMA and the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) jointly launched their second grant call for research and development (R&D) proposals in next-generation energy technologies. Funds from the S$20 million Exploiting Distributed Generation (EDGE) programme, which was started in 2019, would be used to develop innovative power engineering projects that will boost power engineering capabilities and support Singapore’s transition to a more sustainable energy future.

2      With the increase in distributed energy resources (DERs) such as solar photovoltaic installations and the rise in the adoption of electric vehicles, power systems of the future will need to be flexible and responsive. It is, therefore, necessary for Singapore’s power grid to evolve and adapt to variable power sources while continuing to ensure the reliability and stability of our power system.

3       Recognising this need, EMA and SIT are seeking innovative solutions to manage the increasing DERs while ensuring continued grid stability and reliability. Successful grant applicants would be able to test-bed their solutions on SIT’s Multi-Energy Microgrid at its Punggol Campus, located in the heart of the Punggol Digital District when ready in 2024. The Multi-Energy Microgrid serves as a platform for the industry and academics to catalyse R&D by allowing them to test-bed their solutions under real-world conditions. This could enable their ideas to be developed into market-ready solutions for commercialisation.

4      Mr Ngiam Shih Chun, Chief Executive of EMA, said: "Singapore’s energy demand is forecasted to grow in the next decade, driven by increasing electrification and digitalisation. Singapore’s power grid needs to evolve to support a more complex power system as we transition into various sources of cleaner energy and integrate them into our power system to meet increasing demand. EMA is pleased to partner with SIT as we invite the industry and research community to co-create solutions for greater energy sustainability.”

5      Professor Chua Kee Chaing, SIT President, said: "As Singapore’s University of Applied Learning, SIT is well-poised to nurture innovative solutions to address the challenges in energy and sustainability. Through EDGE, we aim to leverage Singapore’s first campus microgrid infrastructure for SIT’s Punggol Campus, which will serve as a national infrastructure that is open to the research community and businesses in Singapore. This platform allows new technologies and solutions to be tested in a controlled environment within the main grid while providing SIT students with the opportunity to work with industry partners and energy start-ups.”

6      In 2018, EMA and SIT launched the EDGE programme to support the building of capabilities in distributed energy technologies to prepare Singapore for an increasingly decentralised energy landscape. Since then, three projects in the research areas of microgrid design and distributed energy optimisation and management have been awarded (more information on projects in the Annex).

7      This second EDGE grant call is open to researchers from Singapore-based institutions of higher learning, research institutes, public sector agencies, as well as local companies and company-affiliated research laboratories/institutions. Funded projects must be implemented in Singapore. All proposals must be submitted by 15 October 2022, 1200hrs, Singapore time.

8      More details of the EDGE grant calls and application details can be found at www.singaporetech.edu.sg/EDGE.

Annex: Awarded Projects from the First EDGE Grant Call in December 2019

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