Under the Low-Carbon Energy Research Funding Initiative (LCER FI), the Singapore Government has awarded $55 million to support 12 research, development and demonstration projects on low-carbon energy technology solutions. This significant investment in low-carbon energy solutions is part of the Singapore Energy Story1, and will support our ambitions under the Long-Term Low-Emissions Development Strategy2 and the Singapore Green Plan3.
On the importance of the LCER FI award, Minister for Trade and Industry Mr Gan Kim Yong said: “As an alternative energy-disadvantaged country, we have to invest early in low-carbon energy technologies such as hydrogen, and carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), so that we are able to meet emission targets in 2050 and beyond. They will complement decarbonisation efforts such as solar deployment and low-carbon electricity imports into Singapore, which can contribute to emission cuts in the nearer term. The first LCER FI grant call saw the submission of more than 50 strong research proposals across a wide range of emerging hydrogen and CCUS solutions. This is encouraging. It is a testament to Singapore’s research and development capabilities, which will play a key role in our collective efforts to build a more sustainable future.”
Funds awarded are from the $49 million LCER FI announced in October 2020 with additional funding support from the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 (RIE2025) budget. The 12 awarded projects will improve the technical and economic feasibility of implementing low-carbon technologies that support the decarbonisation of Singapore’s power and industry sectors, across two key areas:
- Hydrogen: Hydrogen is a versatile energy carrier that can be used to store and transport energy. It does not emit carbon dioxide when used as fuel and has the potential to diversify Singapore’s fuel mix. However, at this point hydrogen is too expensive to be used widely. Projects funded under the LCER FI will go towards reducing costs and increasing efficiencies of hydrogen-related processes. For example, projects will look at developing easier ways to transport hydrogen by using ammonia, and enabling the safe deployment of hydrogen by developing sensors to detect hydrogen leaks. One project will explore reducing the cost of using Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers for the transportation of hydrogen.
- Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS): CCUS has the potential to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by capturing and converting CO2 emissions from power plants and industrial facilities into useful products (e.g. building materials, reclamation sand and synthetic fuels), or for storage underground. Projects will explore using captured CO2 to make alternatives to sand which can be used for construction purposes. Others include developing CO2 capture technologies such as novel membranes or novel materials to absorb CO2 using ashes collected from Singapore’s waste-to-energy facilities. One project will also explore the use of captured CO2 and water to produce important commodity chemicals for industrial processes.
(Details of all awarded projects can be found in Annex A).
The LCER FI is a multi-agency initiative involving the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), the Economic Development Board (EDB), the Energy Market Authority (EMA), the National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS), and the National Research Foundation (NRF). It is co-driven by EDB and EMA to guide private sector consortia on the development and deployment of low-carbon solutions, the development of hydrogen supply chains, and to ensure projects awarded are relevant to the industrial and power sectors. The 12 awarded projects were selected after a grant call was launched in January 2021 by A*STAR, as the implementing agency on behalf of the government.
Emerging low-carbon alternatives is one of four switches in the Singapore Energy Story to build a more sustainable energy future. The Government has also conducted two feasibility studies on low-carbon hydrogen and CCUS technologies, from which key findings4 were used to evaluate proposals received under the LCER FI grant call. The Singapore Government welcomes more of such partnerships, and opportunities to pilot new technologies in sectors including maritime, aviation, mobility, industry and power sectors.
