Keppel Infrastructure and NUS test ‘low-carbon living laboratory’
Keppel Infrastructure, which develops, invests in and operates sustainable infrastructure, has entered into a research collaboration with the National University of Singapore (NUS).
The collaboration will see the partners bolster Keppel’s low-carbon energy innovation and research and development (R&D), as well as leverage the NUS Kent Ridge campus for the ‘Keppel Infrastructure-NUS low carbon living laboratory’.
Low carbon living laboratory
At the laboratory, they will be creating, test-bedding, and scaling up the deployment of commercially viable innovations in distributed energy management, integration of solar photovoltaics (PV), thermal energy storage, electrical microgrids and charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) trials.
Professor Chen Tsuhan, NUS deputy president (research and technology), commented on the announcement in a statement, “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.
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“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.”
This partnership will also provide educational and training opportunities for NUS students, as well as opportunities for open collaboration with other ecosystem players such as start-ups, SMEs and researchers.
To jumpstart the collaboration, the two have jointly identified technologically proven innovations. This extends to test-bedding, demonstration and adaptation in live environments and system/subsystem integration across various technologies for data collection, analysis and performance validation.
The selected projects are:
- Smart AC/DC hybrid microgrid: This project aims to ease the integration of renewable and distributed energy resources, such as solar PV and EV charging with V2G capabilities into the existing AC grid without disruption to the main power grid. The hybrid microgrid acts as a plug-in for the AC grid and will increase flexibility of diversified power interconnection, leading to greater grid reliability and efficiency.
- Novel EV charging strategies: This project will deploy smart EV charging algorithms that will balance the needs and constraints of the existing electrical network, as well as charging demand of and charging cost to EV owners. This will accelerate the emerging readiness of V2G technology.
- Innovative District Cooling Systems (DCS) for buildings integrated with thermal energy storage using proprietary phase change materials as an energy storage medium, outdoor cooling technology and intelligent process optimisation. This project will provide next-generation district cooling solutions for a sustainable urban district, with substantial energy and space savings, as well as environmental benefits such as the reduction of heat island effect.
- Experimentation and laboratory proof-of-concept on enhanced seawater desalination pretreatment technology for carbon dioxide sequestration and scalant removal. This project will be followed by potential demonstration at one of the desalination plants operated by Keppel Infrastructure.
Cindy Lim, CEO of Keppel Infrastructure, stated, “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.
“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.”
Keppel Infrastructure and NUS will also explore collaboration in other energy and sustainability-related areas, such as decarbonisation of industrial emissions, innovative solar projects, as well as technologies and applications of carbon capture, including the use of nature-based solutions.
