Revised Summary and Reader Response Based on Professor Blackstone's feedback
In the webpage, “District heating and cooling systems'', ENGIE (2013) has discussed the benefits and advantages of adopting a cooling network system. A cooling network is a centralized system that supplies chilled water to an air conditioning system. ENGIE has been established as the world’s largest independent provider of urban cooling networks by Tabreed, a leader in the Gulf state urban climate control systems market. The webpage has mentioned that ENGIE has customized its services based on the customers’ needs. ENGIE’s approach for its cooling network in comparison to a conventional air conditioning system has achieved greater energy efficiency, lesser water and electricity consumption, and has emitted less carbon dioxide. The advantages of implementing a cooling network can be seen from ENGIE’s operation in Paris, which is one of the largest cooling networks in the world. Its energy efficiency has improved by 50% and its carbon dioxide emission has been reduced by 50%.
Since the webpage has demonstrated that the
implementation of a district cooling network system has a sustainable impact on
the environment, Singapore should require more commitment to implementing more
district cooling networks projects as such networks will be a contributing
factor to mitigate the current Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect and greenhouse
gas emissions, which are contributing determinants to Singapore’s climate
change problems. Existing projects are not sufficient to tackle the issue.
According to
SP Group (2021), one project in Singapore that has implemented the district
cooling network has been operating at Marina Bay since 2006. This project is
the world’s largest underground district cooling network. It is operated by
Singapore Power (SP) Group. The system serves more than 20 developments. The
notable customers are developments such as the iconic Marina Bay Sands, Gardens
by the Bay, and the Marina Bay Financial Centre (SP Group, 2021). They are
expected to save more than 40% energy savings (Othman, 2016). Consequently,
immense energy has been saved, and carbon dioxide emission has been reduced, which
is a great way to tackle Singapore’s climate change problems.
Two
upcoming projects in Singapore will be adopting the district cooling network
system. Firstly, ENGIE has been awarded by Jurong Town Corporation and
Singapore Institute of Technology to design 30,000 refrigeration tons of
District Cooling System infrastructure in Punggol Digital District (PDC) in
Singapore (ENGIE, 2019). PDC is the first district in Singapore to take on an
integrated masterplan approach that brings together a business park, a
university, and community facilities. This project will enhance energy
efficiency and sustainability. Secondly, a future HDB town called Tengah will
be Singapore’s first sustainable town that incorporates the centralised cooling
system (CCS). A lower carbon footprint will be achieved with this system compared
to other HDB estates in Singapore which will be similar to removing 12.6
million kg of carbon dioxide from the air. Therefore, with a lower carbon
footprint, residents in Tengah will be enjoying 30% energy savings (Housing
& Development Board, 2021). This Built to Order (BTO) project will be an
enabler for future housing development projects to undergo the same methodology
to alleviate Singapore’s climate change issues.
Despite
having the largest cooling network globally and the district cooling network
having a sustainable impact on the environment, future residents in Tengah are not
concordant with the cooling system to be installed in their property. According
to Ng (2020), approximately 1,000 households from 8,000 flats that were
launched in the BTO exercise have opted for the cooling system. The ratio of
the opted households to the households that do not opt for the cooling system shows
that Singaporeans in general do not understand the importance and advantages of
adopting the cooling network system.
Thus far,
the implementation of a district cooling network in Singapore has only been carried
out in new developments. A district cooling network has yet to be implemented in
completed developments in Singapore. However, according to Temasek (2021), this
may change because of a feasibility study done by Temasek and SP Group to
transform Tampines into a sustainable town by 2025. The study involves 14
buildings in Tampines to utilise a distributed district cooling (DDC) network. Data
collected has shown that DDC in Tampines could likely achieve a 17% reduction
in energy consumption, 18% fall in carbon emissions from both energy savings
and refrigerant reduction. The owners of seven of those buildings, including
CapitaLand and Frasers Property, signed letters of intent with SP expressing
their interest in subscribing to the district cooling network.
Successful
implementation of the DDC network in Tampines would be a pathway for many
developments that are already built upon to adopt the district cooling network.
Therefore, in an effort to contribute to sustainability in Singapore, the
government has to start implementing more district cooling networks on older
developments. The current and upcoming projects show that Singapore has shown
commitment to installing more cooling networks. The implementation of the
district cooling networks will contribute to mitigating Singapore’s current UHI
effect issue and greenhouse gas emissions.
References
ENGIE. (2013, February 11). District
heating and cooling systems.
https://www.engie.com/en/businesses/district-heating-cooling-systems
ENGIE. (2019, March 07). ENGIE wins
project for the design of District Cooling System in Punggol Digital District
in Singapore.
https://www.engie.com/en/news/project-cooling-system-punggol-digital-district-singapore
Housing & Development Board. (2021, September
n.d.). Tengah.
https://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/about-us/history/hdb-towns-your-home/tengah
Ng, M. (2020, October 19). Nearly 1,000
households in Tengah sign up for centralised cooling system. The Strait
Times.
Othman, L.
(2016, March 03). World’s biggest underground district cooling network now
at Marina Bay. Today.
SP Group. (2021, August n.d.). Cooling
& Heating.
https://www.spgroup.com.sg/sustainable-energy-solutions/our-low-carbon-solutions/cooling-and-heating
Temasek. (2021, August 19). Bringing
Distributed District Cooling to Our Town Centres – A Cool Solution for a
Greener Singapore.
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