Ohtsubo-san, President of Panasonic Corporation,
Suzuki-san, Japanese Ambassador to Singapore,
Your Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning. I am happy to join you here at the launch of Panasonic’s Total Energy Solutions Test-Bed Project for Public Housing in Singapore.

Like Singapore, some countries such as the UK and Australia have embarked on projects involving smart meters and smart grids to enhance the performance of their power systems. Unlike a traditional grid which relies on the passive transmission of electricity from generators to consumers, a smart grid can integrate the actions and responses of connected parties such as the grid operator, utility retailers, businesses and consumers to reap efficiency savings and other system benefits.

Intelligent Energy System Pilot

This is why EMA has embarked on an Intelligent Energy System (IES) pilot since 2009. Working in partnership with our grid operator Singapore Power, we seek to test the feasibility of using smart meters and smart grid technologies for households and businesses in Singapore.

The IES pilot will look at integrating distributed sources of energy. This includes technologies such as solar photovoltaic systems and lithium-ion storage batteries, similar to the ones that Panasonic is developing and bringing to Singapore. Over time, as more of such distributed and intermittent sources of power are connected to the grid, the IES will be able to integrate these energy sources, while ensuring continued reliability in our electricity supply. This will facilitate the deployment of clean energy sources like solar energy.

A second feature of the IES pilot is that it can strengthen the power system capabilities and network efficiency in Singapore. With information from the smart meters, the power grid operator will be able to instantly detect the location and extent of any localized outages, and respond promptly to restore supply to affected consumers.

The IES can also bring benefits to residential, commercial and industrial consumers, through the use of smart grid applications which will enable consumers to make informed decisions and optimise their energy consumption at different times of the day. For example, households could be offered lower tariff rates during off-peak periods, to incentivise them to modify their consumption patterns. The IES will also allow consumers to install Home Energy Management Systems, such as the one provided by Panasonic, to help them monitor their electricity usage from different appliances.

The advantages of smart grid applications can only be fully realised if consumers are well informed on how these new technologies can benefit them. Before EMA implements the IES pilot to test out smart grid applications next year, we will engage the residents and community leaders, to explain what the project entails and how they can benefit from participating. This is part of EMA’s outreach efforts to engage our stakeholders and obtain their support before we involve them in our projects.

Growing a Dynamic Energy Sector

The IES pilot and other industry collaboration projects are part of EMA’s efforts to grow a dynamic energy sector in Singapore. We want to work with industry partners to test-bed new energy solutions; develop new business opportunities and build up our manpower capabilities to support a growing energy sector. Besides smart grids, we have also started several collaborations with companies in areas such as electric vehicles, energy storage, demand response and other energy technologies, through our Smart Energy Challenge and test-bedding projects.

Hence, we are very happy to have this opportunity to explore collaboration with Panasonic for our IES pilot. This supports our vision of working with the industry to use Singapore as a “Living Lab” to test out innovative energy solutions, products and services. We welcome more companies to partner with us to co-create new energy technologies which can bring value and expertise to Singapore’s energy sector.

Let me conclude by extending my heartiest congratulations to Panasonic on the launch of its test-bed. We look forward to working with you on the IES pilot and other energy-related projects.  Thank you.