Groundbreaking began for the Experimental Power Grid Center (EPGC) on Jurong Island, Singapore, for an R&D facility that will function as a laboratory for smart-grid tech. Four companies – Rolls Royce, Vestas, SP PowerGrid, and CEI Contract Manufacturing – have partnered with the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A-Star) to develop smart grid and distributed energy solutions.
Equipment and devices jointly developed will form key components of an intelligent grid system. “Smart grid R&D is critical to transforming Singapore into a smart energy economy and the Center is important infrastructure that will bring us a step closer to realizing an intelligent national energy grid,” says Lim Chuan Poh, Chairman, A-STAR. “Innovation and development of energy technologies are vital to the growth of the global smart grid industry, which is expected to be worth $187 billion by 2015.
The center will accommodate a range of R&D activities in areas such as intelligent grids, integration of renewable power generation and vehicle to grid systems, and the development of new generation energy management systems. When completed in 2011, it will be the first experimental smart grid research facility of its kind in Southeast Asia.
Filed Under: Projects
