New energy grid plan unveiled
10th Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council meets to take stock of progress on $19 billion investment
Singapore's power distribution system could see its most ambitious overhaul a decade from now, following research on a new Grid 2.0 power system.
This new energy grid aims to consolidate gas, solar and thermal energy into an intelligent network, with the end goal being more efficient, sustainable and resilient energy networks.
Plans for Grid 2.0 were unveiled yesterday as the 10th Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council met to take stock of progress on its $19 billion initiative to support research and development in Singapore, announced in January last year.
This massive investment, spread over five years from 2016 to 2020, aims to build a base of scientific development to create new industries and job opportunities here and to improve Singaporeans' quality of life through technology.
Some $375 million is being pumped into energy research under the Research, Innovation, Enterprise 2020 Plan (RIE2020), which Grid 2.0 falls under.
Dr Yeoh Lean Weng, director of urban solutions and sustainability at the National Research Foundation, said the new energy grid would allow for greater use of clean energy, such as solar power.
He said: "But Grid 2.0 does not just look at energy sources. We are also focusing on how to make buildings energy efficient, especially for air-conditioning, which consumes more than 50 per cent of building energy."
Research is also being done on specialised air-con membranes that can cool air more efficiently, which will lead to reduced power consumption costs for building owners, he said.
Singapore will look to invest in key component technologies, such as solid state transformers.
Research on the new grid falls under one of the four areas of research outlined by the RIE2020, namely the urban solutions and sustainability domain.
We are also focusing on how to make buildings energy efficient, especially for airconditioning...Dr Yeoh Lean Weng, director of urban solutions and sustainability at the National Research Foundation
The other three are: health and biomedical sciences; services and digital economy; and advanced manufacturing and engineering.
On the health front, a $25 million study is being conducted on the genetic predisposition of a diabetic to kidney diseases.
This September, the HealthHub online health portal will also be updated with a new diabetes risk assessment tool.
Efforts in the artificial intelligence and digital space were reaffirmed at the meeting, such as through the $150 million national AI programme, AI.SG, established in May. Next year, at the National University of Singapore, researchers and industry partners can work together on AI-powered tools generated by this project.
More public-private partnerships to drive innovation will be created under the advanced manufacturing and engineering domain.
The Agency for Science, Technology and Research will open two model factories where companies can sample and test technology such as 3D-printing and advanced robotics.
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