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ENGIE Chooses Singapore for its Green-energy R&D Center

July 12, 2016 by Jeff Shepard

With support from the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), ENGIE Lab Singapore opened today, to act as a regional hub for energy innovation and technology in Southeast Asia. ENGIE Lab Singapore focuses on three fields: smart energy systems for cities and islands, industrial energy efficiency and gas technologies. It will support and collaborate with the ENGIE entities that are already established in the region.

The teams will manage R&D projects and provide services based on their technological expertise which includes managing new energies, digital systems such as Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile apps, as well as strengthen existing technologies to enhance energy-related infrastructures and energy uses.

“The opening of the ENGIE Lab Singapore is a key milestone of the development strategy of ENGIE in Southeast Asia to support the transition to low-carbon energy sources,” said Isabelle Kocher, ENGIE Chief Executive Officer. “Singapore’s dynamic innovation ecosystem and regional connectivity provides the right environment for us to set up this leading-edge R&D center to develop practical solutions to meet the energy challenges in the region, and will help businesses to maintain their technological excellence.”

With more than 1,600 employees already in Singapore spanning activities in power generation, energy services, energy trading, LNG and research, the formal opening of ENGIE Lab Singapore paves the way for further green energy developments in Singapore and the region, and further partnerships in the field of low-carbon technologies and innovation.

The establishment of ENGIE Lab Singapore follows two years of successful collaboration in the region. Since September 2014, ENGIE has already developed a strong partnership with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) through its energy laboratory “ERIN”. Both parties agreed to collaborate on various research and academic training topics and are working on new ways to lead the energy transition through a series of innovative projects, such as: PowerZee, a gaming app involving students to reduce energy consumption on NTU campus; Renewable Energy Integration Demonstrator (REIDS) program, the largest micro-grid demonstration platform in tropical area; IoT open innovation challenge for the cities of tomorrow; and Advanced monitoring and analytics systems for gas pipelines.

“We are pleased that ENGIE is growing its activities in Singapore, across the energy services, power generation and energy trading businesses. ENGIE’s decision to establish its first Asia-Pacific research center in Singapore is testament to our strong base of capabilities that can enable companies to develop, test and commercialize innovative urban solutions to serve Asia and beyond. We look forward to ENGIE deepening its partnership with Singapore’s research institutes and universities to customize smart city and energy management solutions for the region,” Dr. Beh Swan Gin, Chairman, EDB.

ENGIE Lab Singapore is the latest addition to the strong international R&D network of the Group, which now includes 11 high-level research centers called “ENGIE Labs”, with a total of 1,100 researchers and experts, across all the continents. The ENGIE Labs worldwide ecosystem continuously brings new added-value to the fast changing global energy market and contributes actively to the innovation strategy of the Group. It is part of “ENGIE Tech”, the new businesses factory of the Group, created in June 2016. Innovative projects and actions carried out by ENGIE Lab Singapore with Nanyang Technological University (NTU):

PowerZee is an application that can be uploaded on a smart phone by students of NTU Campus. Based on gaming principles, it empowers students to decrease energy consumption in buildings by doing simple things which they gain points for, such as using the staircase instead of the elevator, or a fan instead of air conditioning. After testing a prototype version on the NTU campus, ENGIE and ERIN are now involved in the further deployment and commercialization of PowerZee, targeting numerous universities in the region.

The REIDS initiative aims at developing a micro-grid demonstrator on Semakau Island in Singapore, which will address the issue of energy access for off-grid areas, a major challenge for the energy world today. Together with Schneider Electric R&D teams, ENGIE Lab Singapore will develop a Multiple Energies Solution, integrating various renewable energy sources and storage systems from a series of partners. This program will focus on creating synergies and optimizing the use of those different technologies to provide affordable, reliable and sustainable energy for islands and remote sites in the region.

ENGIE Lab Singapore is currently involved in the organization of an Open Innovation challenge in Asia-Pacific region focused on the Internet of Things (IoT), in partnership with NTU, EDB and Sigfox. During this process, innovative concepts linking the IoT and the challenges of the city of tomorrow will be selected, prototyped and tested within the EcoCampus Living Lab of NTU.

ENGIE Lab Singapore also offers high-level expertise on energy efficiency for industry. It will provide consulting services for optimizing industrial processes and help countries to reduce their industrial carbon footprint.

ENGIE Lab Singapore is also committed to work on the transition from the use of traditional energy sources to clean ones. The Lab is currently carrying out its first project with NTU and Singapore Power on natural gas network, monitoring techniques to improve fault detection and to decrease maintenance costs.