ASYRAF KAMIL Today Online 30 May 18;
SINGAPORE — Utility provider SP Group will be building Singapore’s first 230kV underground substation at the former Pasir Panjang Power District, as part of the country’s push to locate supporting infrastructure underground.
Announcing this on Wednesday (May 30), National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said that the underground substation will be integrated with a new commercial building on top of it.
“We are in the process of drawing up plans to rejuvenate the area, and this additional space will mean that there are more opportunities for development,” he said at the launch of the Underground: Singapore’s Next Frontier exhibition in URA Centre.
The old Pasir Panjang Power Station was decommissioned in 1987. In terms of maximising the use of subterranean space, setting up the underground facility will free up three hectares of land above ground, which is about the size of three football fields.
Mr Wong noted that there are “many more substations, storage facilities and transport infrastructure all over Singapore” and the priority is to locate these below ground.
“If we combine all of that and progressively locate many of these facilities underground, there is tremendous potential for us to start thinking about the possibilities for future development.”
He added that Singapore started using more of its underground space decades ago “with underground utility cables, and water and sewage pipes”, as well as building South-east Asia’s first underground cavern for oil storage and the world’s most advanced underground ammunition facility.
However, there is “still much more” to explore in this “new frontier”. “We are still far from maximising the potential of underground space in Singapore,” he said.
By next year, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) will release the 3D Underground Master Plan for selected pilot areas. It will show what is already in the ground, what could be built in the future, and the regulations and requirements for industry.
“With an accurate 3D map, we can look at safeguarding underground space for future use... We can also plan more holistically for aboveground and underground possibilities, to ensure they are compatible, integrated and seamless,” Mr Wong said.
He reiterated that the Government does that have any plan to locate residential spaces below ground. Instead, with supporting infrastructure underground, it helps to “free up surface land for more homes, more amenities, and more green spaces – things that matter to Singaporeans, and that can improve the quality of life for everyone”, he added.
In studying how England, Finland and Japan go about planning the use of underground spaces in their cities, Mr Wong said that apart from harnessing 3D technology, there is also the need to get accurate information and data. This means access to geological data, utility plans and building records.
To help industry players in this area, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) will launch a centralised, one-stop portal for all underground utility plans by the end of this year. The Integrated Land Information Service website will allow engineers or construction firms, for example, to buy underground plans.
From July this year, the SLA and the Building and Construction Authority will be putting up geological information collected from government projects on the website. Such data will be freely available as a reference for site investigation and construction works.
To facilitate the expansion of Singapore’s underground network, the Government is on the lookout for partners with specialised expertise from all fields, Mr Wong said. “We are even prepared to look at providing funding support for (research and development) and feasibility studies, to support innovative ideas that make full use of technologies to push the boundaries of underground space.”
Singapore's largest underground substation to be built at Pasir Panjang
Wendy Wong Channel NewsAsia 30 May 18
SINGAPORE: Singapore will build its largest underground substation yet, with the capacity to power more than two public housing towns when completed by 2025. Building the substation underground will free up three hectares - or more than three football fields of space - of land.
SP Group will construct the 230kV underground substation, which will have a commercial development sitting on top of it, on the site of the former Pasir Panjang Power District, said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong on Wednesday (May 30), at the launch of an exhibition showcasing Singapore’s underground projects.
“We are in the process of drawing up plans to rejuvenate the area so that additional space that’s freed up by pushing the substation underground means there are more opportunities for redevelopment,” said Mr Wong.
“This is just for one substation. And we have many more substations, storage facilities and transport infrastructure all over Singapore.
"So if you combine all of that, and progressively locate many of these facilities underground, there is tremendous potential for us to start thinking about the possibilities for future developments.”
The new development will sit on the same compound as the Pasir Panjang Power Station, which was decommissioned in 1987.
NO PLANS TO HOUSE RESIDENTIAL SPACES UNDERGROUND
A 3D Underground Master Plan is also being developed by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and will be unveiled for selected pilot areas by 2019.
The master plan will allow the authorities to plan for both “aboveground and underground possibilities, to ensure that they are compatible and seamless”.
“The map will show what is already there in the ground, what we plan to build in the future, and the regulations and requirements for industry,” said Mr Wong. “All this can be updated whenever things change on the ground.”
He also emphasised that the Government has no plans to build homes underground.
“Some people have asked if we're planning for homes to be located underground in the future. Let me be very clear that we have no intention of putting residential homes underground,” said Mr Wong.
Instead, the master plan’s priority will be to locate supporting infrastructure underground, such as utilities, storage facilities and transport infrastructure. The Government is also “actively looking” to have common services tunnels in growth areas such as the Jurong Lake District, Mr Wong said.
To provide more accurate data to facilitate underground development, a centralised platform collating different types of information for underground planning will also be made available.
Industry players will be able to purchase them from the Singapore Land Authority’s Integrated Land Information Service, which will serve as a one-stop portal for all utility plans.
Geological information collected from government projects will also be shared on the platform from July this year.
Source: CNA/ec(hm)
