New service to help companies cut carbon emissions, generate savings

Singapore pledged under the Paris Agreement on climate change to reduce emissions intensity by 36 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030. (Photo: AFP/SHAMMI MEHRA)

The service – called the Co-Pilot Hub – was launched on Monday (Oct 22) and is offered by software and services provider KBC.

The hub is co-funded by Japanese electrical engineering and software firm Yokogawa Electric Corporation and through a grant from the Economic Development Board under the Research Incentive Scheme for Companies (RISC).

Companies can sign up and pay a subscription fee and pay the solutions provider, KBC, a portion of the energy savings that are achieved. KBC declined to disclose how much the subscription fee is.

KBC projects that a refinery, for example, will be able to save up to S$30 million a year through the service.

In essence, the co-pilot programme provides a second pair of expert eyes on the firm’s plant, to provide expertise and assistance through a shared digital twin – or digital copy – of the firm’s complete facility that is uploaded onto a secured cloud platform.

This way, the service provider will be able to monitor the plant and thereafter, analyse plant performance, discover improvement opportunities and formulate a plan that will optimize energy efficiency and in turn, reduce carbon emissions.

KBC’s Asia Energy Lead Andrew Morrison said the service will help energy and chemical companies in Singapore to comply with legislative requirements.

“Over the next three years, we anticipate total benefits for Singapore industries in the range of S$200 million to S$300 million.” he said.

This comes on the back of the Energy Conservation Act which was enhanced in March 2017 to make it mandatory for large industrial emitters to report greenhouse gas emissions from 2021.

The measures will help Singapore achieve its pledge under the Paris Agreement on climate change to reduce emissions intensity by 36 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030.

Currently, the industrial sector accounts for about 60 per cent of Singapore's greenhouse gas emissions, according to the National Environmental Agency.