His Excellency Mr Benjamin Dubertret Ambassador of France to Singapore Mr Jacques Sacreste and others colleagues from EDF
Mr Bernard Nee Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Energy Market Authority
Professor Heng Chye Kiang, Dean, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to extend a very warm welcome to all of you to the Singapore City Gallery and the opening of Urban Lab’s third exhibition – ‘Rethinking energy in cities’.
We have chosen energy as the topic of this exhibition for a simple reason –energy powers every aspect of our lives.
This is also a time when rapid urbanisation, population growth, rising affluence and evolving lifestyle habits have all led to a surge in global energy demand. To ensure that our needs continue to be met in future, Singapore, like many cities around the world, is re-examining the way we consume energy.
R&D has progressively led to innovations that present us with smarter, more efficient and greener ways to manage and use energy. From visible day-to-day features like smart meters at home and smart lighting along the roads, to the less visible renewable energy sources and smart grids that power up entire districts, exciting energy innovations have been developing at a larger scale in recent years, supported by advancements in technology and knowledge exchange across countries, industries and agencies.
We are therefore very happy to host this exhibition presented by the Électricité de France, or EDF. You are an organisation that has substantially invested in energy innovation. This is an exhibition for us to have a glimpse of trends and challenges in the energy sector, and the latest global innovations that cater to the energy needs of individuals, households, industries and cities.
Underpinning Singapore’s development is a safe and reliable supply of energy. We are committed to building an energy-efficient and carbon-friendly city, and have set long-term targets to increase our energy efficiency. In the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint 2015, we have set a target of a 35 per cent improvement in our energy intensity by 2030, from 2005 levels. This means lowering our energy consumption by 35 per cent for every $1 of GDP generated, and achieving a more energy-efficient economy.
Singapore has embarked on the path of innovation and laid a strong foundation where our energy choices will allow us to enjoy a clean and healthy environment.
An area where we have made good progress is the use of solar energy. Under the government-led initiative called SolarNova, public agencies have spearheaded the adoption of solar power and spurred the development of the solar industry in Singapore. In June this year, the Housing & Development Board (HDB) called the largest solar leasing tender to date, and consolidated demand for photovoltaic systems across government agencies.
We are also promoting energy efficiency for our buildings, industries, and consumers through other ideas and innovations. For instance, our incineration plants are waste-to-energy plants where the heat generated from burning waste is used to generate electricity. We also provide incentives to manufacturers and developers who build energy-efficient facilities and buildings, and install public lighting in our housing estates that adjusts its own brightness according to surrounding movements and activities.
You will be able to find out about these initiatives and more at this exhibition.
For the URA, it is clear that a city that is well planned and designed contributes to Singapore’s overall energy efficiency. For example, developing regional centres brings jobs and amenities closer to homes, so people can live, work, play, and learn without expending more energy to get around. Another example is planning for a ‘car-lite’ city, where public transport, walking and cycling are the choice modes of commute. This reduces energy consumption and pollution, and contributes to a healthier lifestyle.
Our integrated planning approach allows us to consider economic, social and environmental factors holistically when drawing up plans for the city, and create districts that are vibrant, greener and more energy efficient. This could be in the form of orientating, clustering and distributing land uses and buildings to maximise wind movement and air flow, disperse ‘trapped’ heat, and reduce the need for air-conditioning. It could also be through using setback of buildings to optimise daylighting to reduce the need for artificial lighting.
At a system-wide level, it means we can intervene upstream by integrating systems for energy, water and waste management to enjoy high levels of energy efficiency.
Our master planning and development of Marina Bay is a notable example where an integrated live-work-play district is designed and developed with environmental and energy sustainability in mind. Marina Bay presented us an opportunity to develop the district as a ‘living lab’, where innovative infrastructure is deployed and integrated with land uses and activities to create a sophisticated precinct that enhances system efficiency.
For instance, Marina Bay is home to Singapore’s largest District Cooling System. This system provides chilled water to developments in the district for air-conditioning through a network of district cooling pipes within a Common Services Tunnel. With this system, individual developments need not provide separate chiller plants and cooling towers for their buildings. It frees up space for more creative and people-friendly uses, such as rooftop gardens and public spaces. It also achieves economies of scale, energy and water savings for Marina Bay as a whole.
The success of projects like Marina Bay convinced us that we need to continue to explore new ways to actively weave energy considerations early into our master planning efforts. In this regard, we are continuing to build up our capability to assess the impact of proposed land use mix on energy consumption more holistically, to allow us to plan and design districts that are more energy-efficient.
Today, we are happy to offer the Urban Lab as a platform for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between EDF and the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) School of Design and Environment. This will see academia and industry work together to study ways to reduce energy consumption in the planning and design stages. By bringing such collaborations together, we hope to encourage adoption of good ideas across the industry and the public sector.
The timing of these developments and this exhibition could not be better. We are gearing up to the 8th Annual Singapore International Energy Week taking place at the end of this month. This is where policymakers and energy practitioners from all over the world come together to discuss energy issues, strategies and solutions. This year’s event will also commemorate Singapore’s 50th anniversary, and feature a Singapore Energy exhibition, where visitors will learn about our energy milestones and the individuals behind them, and the steps ahead to ensure a sustainable energy future for Singapore. This energy story is a key chapter of Singapore’s development and URA is happy to be an official supporter of the event.
On this note, I would like to thank Urban Lab’s partners for making this exhibition possible. I would especially like to thank EDF management for flying down all the way from France to grace this occasion, and of course the Ambassador. Special mention should also go to REDAS for their continued support of the Urban Lab. Through REDAS, we hope that the exhibited ideas here will be further explored, adopted and implemented by the industry at a wider scale.
I hope you enjoy the exhibition. Thank you.