SP GROUP EXPANDS MARINA BAY DISTRICT COOLING NETWORK WITH NEW PARTNERSHIPS

Singapore, 20 April 2022 – SP Group (SP) announced that it will be providing its energy efficient district cooling services to five upcoming new and retrofit developments – 8 Shenton Way (formerly AXA Tower), the commercial component of 80 Anson Road (formerly Fuji Xerox Towers), IOI Central Boulevard Towers, Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort Expansion and NS Square – through its Marina Bay District Cooling Network.

Marina Bay is planned as a sustainable live-work-play district, and all developments are served by a comprehensive underground network of common services tunnels that houses the district cooling system. 1 The addition of the five developments will further expand the world’s largest underground district cooling network, bringing the total number of buildings served by SP’s Marina Bay operations to 28. SP’s sustainable cooling solution will help the Marina Bay district reduce its carbon emissions by 19,439 tonnes annually while providing the same cool comfort. This is equivalent to removing 17,672 cars off our roads.

At an appreciation event held earlier today which marked the expansion of the Marina Bay District Cooling network, Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development and Minister-in-charge of Social Services Integration, presented certificates of appreciation to the building owners of the five buildings – City Developments Limited (CDL), IOI Properties, Marina Bay Sands Singapore, NS Square, and Perennial Holdings – affirming their commitment to the sustainable development of our city centre.

Through subscribing to district cooling, the new developments will enjoy reliable cooling comfort with the network achieving zero supply interruptions since the Marina Bay District Cooling operations started in 2006. Without the need to invest in their own chillers, the new developments will enjoy a lower initial investment cost compared to a conventional air-conditioning system. The savings on equipment, operating and maintenance costs will also reduce the total cost of ownership by up to 15 per cent. Having centralised chiller plants also frees up prime space for other commercial or lifestyle purposes, potentially increasing asset yield for building owners.

SP’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Stanley Huang, said, “SP Group is the largest district cooling solutions provider in Singapore. With the expanded infrastructure in place, we are pleased to extend the same reliable and sustainable solution to other buildings in Singapore’s core financial district and look forward to welcoming more partners to this network. Together, we can accelerate the development of greener buildings and cities to achieve Singapore’s ambitious sustainability targets.”

In addition to the energy savings and the reduction in carbon emissions, developments will also benefit from the centralisation of ownership and maintenance of their cooling systems under a district cooling operator, ensuring optimal operations at all times. SP as the district cooling operator is responsible for meeting the industry sustainability standards. Under the latest BCA Green Mark 2021 (GM: 2021) green building certification scheme, buildings supplied by an external district cooling system (DCS) plant have a dedicated pathway to demonstrate their energy efficiency performance, allowing for a more seamless certification experience.

With the inclusion of these new customers, SP will be increasing the capacity of its Marina Bay district cooling network to 70,000 refrigerant tons (RT). It will also add more than two kilometres of underground insulated pipes to the network to cater to the additional demand and cooling capacity. To further enhance the reliability of the network, SP is exploring installing thermal storage tanks in the neighbouring Central Business District to increase the network’s energy storage capacity. These auxiliary chilled water tanks will enable the existing network to significantly reduce its peak load consumption and support future expansion of the cooling network beyond the Marina Bay vicinity. Additional energy storage capacity will also facilitate the incorporation of more renewable energy sources to the grid by mitigating the intermittency of renewables while maintaining grid stability and reliability. The deployment of energy storage systems, such as thermal storage tanks, is in line with government’s energy storage target and vision of a clean and efficient energy future.

SP continues to actively engage with potential customers to further expand the Marina Bay district cooling network. It is currently studying the feasibility of M Hotel Singapore, a hotel under the CDL Group, being the first brownfield hotel development to incorporate district cooling in its operations.

In addition to the Marina Bay district cooling network, SP is also collaborating with the Housing and Development Board (HDB) to deploy Singapore’s first residential centralised cooling system for up to 22,000 households at the upcoming Tengah housing estate by 2023. SP will also be developing Singapore’s first brownfield, sustainable cooling solution for a town centre at Tampines. When completed, SP will be operating a total 118,500 RTs of cooling capacity through its district cooling networks, extending its lead as the biggest provider of district cooling solutions in Singapore.

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