Offshore staff
SINGAPORE – The Energy Market Authority (EMA) and Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) have jointly awarded a research grant to pilot Singapore’s first floating energy storage system (ESS).
This project was awarded to a consortium led by Envision Digital International Pte Ltd. This is part of the $10-million partnership between EMA and Keppel O&M to develop energy solutions in the marine market, which was announced in April 2020.
The consortium also includes Mirai Electronics Pte. Ltd., Fuji Bridex Pte. Ltd., National University of Singapore, and Institute of Infocomm Research at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research.
Keppel O&M will work with the consortium to deploy a 7.5 MW/7.5MWh lithium-ion battery ESS on its Floating Living Lab (FLL). This is expected to be Singapore’s largest ESS deployment to date, with capacity to power more than 600 4-room HDB flats a day.
As Singapore’s hot and humid environment can affect the performance of the ESS, the testbed will use a liquid-cooling solution that uses seawater to cool the battery cells and enhance the lifecycle of the ESS.
The ESS will also explore the first-of-its-kind battery stacking solution in Singapore. This could potentially reduce the footprint required for deployment by up to 40%, according to Keppel O&M. Findings from the project are expected to be applied to ESS on mainland Singapore. This would help support power grid stability and resilience, and facilitate the adoption of more renewable energy such as solar.
EMA chief executive Ngiam Shih Chun said: “Energy storage and smart energy management systems support the deployment of more renewable energy in Singapore. This project will pave the way to overcome our land constraints, and set the blueprint for similar deployments in the future.”
The ESS will also be integrated with a smart energy management system (SEMS) on the FLL to enhance its operational efficiency. Supported by artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, the SEMS is expected to optimize the efficiency of operations and reduce overall energy usage.
The project is expected to be completed in 2023.
Chris Ong, CEO of Keppel O&M, said: “Besides supporting Singapore’s energy needs, the developed solution will have multiple applications such as supporting areas with intermittent power supply, and rapid deployment to provide emergency power for places or remote islands affected by power disruptions. It can also be deployed on hybrid or fully electric vessels to significantly reduce carbon emissions...”
10/26/2020
