S$680 million will be set aside to build solar ecosystem in Singapore: EDB

Travis Teo Channel NewsAsia 20 May 10;

SINGAPORE: The Economic Development Board (EDB) says some S$680 million will be injected over the next 5 years to build a comprehensive "solar ecosystem".

EDB says of the total investment, S$350 million will be devoted to develop the clean energy sector.

The move seeks to make Singapore more conducive for innovations from research to test-bedding of products and commercialisation.

This initiative is also supported by the Building and Construction Athourity (BCA), and will be funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF).

Goh Chee Kiong, Director, Cleantech EDB, said: "We are using this funding to build research capabilities, this includes building up R&D centres. One example is the solar energy research institute of Singapore or SERIS.

"Another use of the funding will be to develop manpower capabilities. Which is very important as a lot of companies are telling us there is a shortage of manpower in the industry and we hope that we can train this skilled manpower to provide a differentiation for Singapore."

And companies like Suntech Power hopes to expand their operations in Singapore, citing the strong government support and the country as a technology centre.

While wind energy companies like Vestas already has a wind energy R&D centre in Singapore, market players at an industry conference say the strong government support will be crucial to advance the solar energy market here.

Meanwhile, EDB says the remaining S$330 million investment will go into developing water and waste management solutions.

Companies like Hyflux and Sembcorp are expected to be involved in the projects.

The Research Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC) will be funding the initiative.

The focus of the S$700 million investment will be on development of manpower and R&D capabilities in Singapore.

EDB has also established a series of living laboratories for test bedding which includes a Clean Tech Park.

It estimates that 20,000 green professionals will be working at the Clean Tech Park by 2030. - CNA/fa