Singapore launches S$143m funding initiative and new partnerships to advance industrial decarbonisation

This press release was jointly issued by the Advanced Energy and Decarbonisation Office (AEDO) and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).

1. Singapore today launched a S$143 million funding initiative to accelerate the development and commercialisation of low-carbon technologies for industries, with up to S$100 million set aside for company-initiated R&D. This is Singapore’s largest single funding initiative dedicated to industrial decarbonisation R&D to date, and was unveiled alongside new partnerships with climate and clean energy investors, and support to scale up promising technologies.
2. The announcements were made by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy, Trade and Industry (Trade) Gan Kim Yong at the inaugural Singapore Industry Decarbonisation Forum 2026. Together, these efforts underscore Singapore’s long-term commitment to advancing industrial decarbonisation R&D and developing a wider range of viable low-carbon solutions, helping industries remain competitive as they transition towards a low-carbon future.
3. Industrial activities, including manufacturing, account for nearly two-thirds of Singapore’s emissions, making industrial decarbonisation critical to achieving the country’s climate goals. However, emissions from energy-intensive activities – such as petrochemical production, refining, and fuel combustion – remain difficult to reduce, while Singapore’s land and resource constraints limit the feasibility of deploying some solutions at scale. Targeted R&D is therefore needed to develop and adapt technologies suited to Singapore’s industrial needs and operating conditions.

Industry Decarbonisation Funding Initiative

4. To address these challenges, the S$143 million Industry Decarbonisation Funding Initiative (FI), led by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Advanced Energy and Decarbonisation Office (AEDO), will support R&D into technologies that address Singapore's specific industrial decarbonisation challenges. The FI forms part of the S$800 million Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2030 Decarbonisation Grand Challenge (DGC)¹.
5. The FI will focus on three key areas:
1. Carbon capture to advance cost-effective capture solutions for low to mid-concentration carbon dioxide streams.
2. Carbon utilisation to convert captured carbon dioxide into chemicals and other value-added products, leveraging Singapore's established energy and chemicals (E&C) ecosystem.
3. Other novel and emerging decarbonisation technologies, such as innovative carbon storage solutions, electrification of industrial heating, and solutions to reduce non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions from industrial processes, including semiconductor manufacturing.

Separately, low-carbon hydrogen R&D will continue to be supported under the broader DGC, focusing on reducing the costs and land requirements associated with its use and deployment

1. 6. The FI will sharpen Singapore’s R&D efforts to develop a pipeline of promising technologies for subsequent scale-up, through programmes such as the Low-Carbon Technology Translational Testbed (LCT³)² and Singapore Pilots for Energy & Enterprise Decarbonisation (SPEED)³. It builds on the earlier Low Carbon Energy Research (LCER) programmes⁴, which have supported R&D in carbon capture, utilisation, and storage, and hydrogen technologies. These efforts reflect Singapore's sustained commitment to innovation that can strengthen industrial competitiveness and support our national climate goals.
   7. To ensure that companies play a leading role in shaping R&D projects, up to S$100 million of the FI will be set aside for the new Decarbonisation Research for Industry, Ventures, and Enterprise (DRIVE) programme. Under DRIVE, companies, including start-ups and technology providers, can initiate and design R&D projects in partnership with Singapore’s public research institutions to address industry decarbonisation challenges. With more active involvement from companies in the R&D process, DRIVE aims to increase the commercialisation and deployment potential of technologies to support industrial decarbonisation. The government will co-fund up to 75% of qualifying project costs and applications are open as of 23 October 2026. Funding beyond DRIVE will be deployed through competitive grant calls.

8. One example of growing industry interest in leveraging Singapore’s research capabilities is the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed today between global multi-energy company TotalEnergies and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s (A*STAR) Institute of Sustainability for Chemicals, Energy and Environment (ISCE²), to explore an R&D collaboration on carbon utilisation technologies as a decarbonisation pathway for industrial operations.

Partnerships and collaborations to accelerate technology development

9. Singapore is building a pipeline from research to commercialisation by bringing climate and clean energy investors and accelerators into the innovation ecosystem. This includes new partnerships and collaborations that EDB and AEDO have established with Extantia, Main Sequence, and Rocky Mountain Institute today, building on ongoing collaborations with Breakthrough Energy, Energy Impact Partners, SG Growth Capital, and Temasek.
10. These partnerships and collaborations will provide global perspectives on emerging technologies and industry needs to inform Singapore’s R&D funding priorities. These climate and clean energy investors and accelerators will avail their networks and recommend relevant companies to tap on Singapore’s decarbonisation initiatives. Promising companies can access opportunities for R&D support, develop capabilities around low-carbon technologies, and scale potential solutions for eventual commercial deployment. 

Five projects awarded S$65 million under LCER Scale-up Grant

11. In addition, AEDO has awarded a total of S$65 million through its LCER Scale-up Grant to five projects which had delivered promising outcomes under an earlier LCER programme. The awarded research teams will receive follow-on funding to support the scale-up of their technologies under real-world industrial settings.
12. The five projects feature strong collaborations between companies and local research institutes and universities, and aim to take these technologies towards industrial application. They include partnerships between Chevron, YTL PowerSeraya and the National University of Singapore (NUS), Cora Environment and A*STAR, and PacificLight Power, Siemens, and NUS. 

Footnotes:

¹ METI (previously MTI) announced the launch of the Decarbonisation RIE Grand Challenge at the MTI Committee of Supply (COS) Debate in March 2026. It will advance low-carbon technologies that can decarbonise Singapore’s industry and power sectors at scale by supporting applied and translational R&D, building a portfolio of technologies that can be further developed towards commercialisation and deployment.

² LCT3 is a national test-bed led by A*STAR that provides shared infrastructure for companies to test and validate low-carbon technologies under industry-relevant conditions.

³ METI (previously MTI) announced the launch of the SPEED programme to support low-carbon technology pilots and deployments in April 2026.

⁴ The LCER programme received funding under Singapore’s Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2020 and 2025 plans.