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ENGIE, a global leader in low carbon energy and services, and the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), Singapore’s first university of applied learning, have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly develop a district cooling centre of excellence in Singapore.

The ENGIE-SIT District Cooling Centre of Excellence will catalyse innovation in cooling solutions across APAC. Leveraging ENGIE’s local and global expertise in cooling, extensive experience in decarbonisation, energy and climate change projects, and SIT’s applied learning and research approach, this initiative is aimed at cultivating a district cooling ecosystem in Singapore and the broader region. To this end, the partnership will include joint development and funding of applied research, as well as knowledge exchange projects between ENGIE South East Asia, ENGIE Lab Singapore and SIT. It will also cover local work attachment opportunities and commercial DCS development opportunities for SIT students with these ENGIE entities, through SIT’s Integrated Work Study Programme (IWSP).

“Well-designed district cooling solutions have the capacity to save 30% or more energy consumption to cool Southeast Asia’s cities. Our relationship with SIT will not only allow us to train the future generation of engineers on this cornerstone technology for the region’s energy transition but also to perfect it through a joint applied R&D effort. ENGIE is proud to embark on this strategic partnership with SIT,” said Thomas Baudlot, ENGIE CEO Energy Solutions and Country Head for Southeast Asia.

“We are thrilled to be collaborating with Singapore’s premier university of applied learning, SIT, to create a test-bed for the development and pilot deployment of advanced district cooling solutions,” said Loic Villocel, Director at ENGIE Lab Singapore.

“SIT’s new campus will be a living lab for applied learning and research in the built environment and energy resilience. Working with leading energy solutions provider ENGIE will help us advance innovation in decarbonisation and sustainability, and achieve our vision of constructing a green campus in Punggol. In addition to co-developing integrated and innovative solutions, the close, symbiotic partnership we enjoy with ENGIE will enable us to build a strong talent pipeline of work-ready graduates who will lead green transformations in industry and communities,” added Prof Chua Kee Chaing, President at SIT.

Designed and built by ENGIE, SIT’s DCS for its upcoming campus in Punggol Digital District is well underway. Once completed, the DCS facility will provide a teaching and training ground for students to learn about DCS and aspects of maintenance and energy efficiency in real-world conditions. The DCS will extend the Punggol campus’ learning environment, complementing the collaborative research in cold thermal storage, air-side cooling distribution systems and cooling load management to be carried out there. As a result, SIT students will pick up skillsets in data-driven optimisation, DCS decarbonization and predictive maintenance  learning from the new campus’ infrastructure.

SIT’s Punggol campus is expected to start operations in 2024 and will consolidate the university’s distributed campuses into one fit-for-purpose yet porous campus that will foster interaction between academia, industry and the community

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