Reader's Response Final Draft

 In the webpage "District heating and cooling systems," ENGIE (2013) illustrates how impactful and effective its sustainable heating and cooling systems have been to the world. As stated, ENGIE successfully provides long-term solutions and comfort for its clients. In addition, ENGIE further demonstrates the backbone of its operations involving numerous technologies applied worldwide relative to the versatile heating and cooling methodology it adopts. Consequently, energy consumption, CO2 emissions, and energy bills have decreased. ENGIE states that it utilizes renewable and recyclable energy to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of heating and cooling. To validate its claims, ENGIE further exemplified its contributions by highlighting its projects for different countries and how their systems have accelerated the fight against environmental degradation.

 

ENGIE has attained success by innovating environmentally friendly district systems. Singapore has been committed to implementing district cooling systems(DCS) developed by ENGIE to mitigate the use of air-conditioners. However, the success of district cooling systems is not yet prevalent throughout Singapore as the district cooling systems are only available to some country areas.

 

As warm and humid weather prevails all year long in Singapore, cooling and dehumidification have become necessary in residential and non-residential areas. To circumvent the prevailing weather, most buildings in Singapore adopt small, individual chillers that refresh cooling air, which is inefficient. Consequently, Singapore implemented district cooling systems in commercial buildings to mitigate the application of individual chillers. As a case in point, Marina Bay's underground district cooling network is the most extensive cooling system globally (Othman, 2016). The Marina Bay district cooling system caters to more than 20 developments in the precinct, enabling them to conserve more than 40% in energy expenditure (SPgroup, n.d). Instead of building and installing their own plant rooms and cooling towers, using a district cooling facility helps make about 30 percent more energy-efficient businesses in the area (AsiaOne, 2013). Thus, the successful development of district cooling systems has provided Singapore with sustainable options in reducing the temperature, enabling Singapore to accelerate its progress in improving the climate.

 

Although the district cooling system has proven beneficial in Singapore, expanding the district cooling systems to more country areas is still prolonged. Typically, the integration of district cooling systems and the design of greenfield developments will transpire at the start of planning. Thus, Singapore faces a limitation in implementing the district cooling systems as a large part of the land in Singapore is developed, and most building owners have installed their individual plants for chilling needs (Ecosperity,2021). Furthermore, planning for the implementation of district cooling systems requires a significant amount of time. Group CEO of Singapore power, Kim Yin (2016), states that the transformation of Marina Bay results from many years of planning. The Biopolis project was Singapore's first District cooling implementation. Kim Yim (2016) mentioned that the Singapore government played a vital role in de-risking the Biopolis project by making it compulsory for developments in a particular area to take up the District Cooling System supply to mitigate the demand risk. Conventionally, the development of the District Cooling System is bounded by the need to implement the system at the start of construction. In addition, implementing the District cooling system requires time to visualize and convince key personnel of buildings within the area to commit to utilizing the system. Thus, due to development complications and prolonged preliminary planning, it will be a while before Singapore can fully experience the benefits of District Cooling Systems entirely.

 

Despite the impediment mentioned earlier, the limitations relative to the development of district cooling systems are not a halting problem. A promising solution, known as the Distributed District Cooling (DDC) network, was innovated by SPGroup to interlink a centralized cooling system to existing towns and districts (SPGroup, 2021). According to SPGroup, the Distributed District Cooling network will interconnect 14 buildings through insulated pipes that dispense and circulate chilled water in a closed loop. The notion behind a Distributed District Cooling network is the idea of an integrated operation. The combination of individual buildings will enable the Distributed District Cooling network to select the most acceptable composition of chillers amongst the available chiller plants to meet the fluctuating cooling requirements. Thus, this allows the chiller systems to perform at maximum efficiency (SPgroup,2021). The implementation of the Distributed District Cooling network will inaugurate in Tampines by 2025 as part of the Tampines Eco Town initiative. In the long run, implementing the Distributed District Cooling Network is the most feasible solution to further expand the District Cooling System into the non-commercial areas of the country. Thus, if the implementation Distributed District Cooling network in Tampines produces positive results, Singapore will benefit from the foundation of this victory. As a result, the success of the District Cooling Systems will be more prevalent in the country.

 

As opportunities to scale district cooling systems into residential areas appear promising, it is essential to ensure strong core operations. The Singapore Government must be persistent in implementing the district cooling systems against all adversities to produce the best results so that Singapore can enjoy the extensive benefits District Cooling Systems can offer.  

 

ENGIE. (2013, February 11). District heating and cooling systems. ENGIE

https://www.engie.com/en/businesses/district-heating-cooling-systems

 

Lim, V. (2021, August 19) Greener system of cooling buildings may be set up in Tampines, paving the way for more eco-friendly towns. Channel News Asia.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/sustainability/tampines-cooling-buildings-eco-friendly-towns-2122426

 

Ministry of National Development. (2016, March 3). Speech by Minister Lawrence Wong at the Commissioning of the Marina Bay Cooling Network. Ministry of National Development.

https://www.mnd.gov.sg/newsroom/speeches/view/speech-by-minister-lawrence-wong-at-the-commissioning-of-the-marina-bay-district-cooling-network

McKenna, J (2020, July 28). Below the surface of Singapore lies the future of keeping cool. Spectra.

https://spectra.mhi.com/below-the-surface-of-singapore-lies-the-future-of-keeping-cool

SPGroup. (2021, August n.d). Temasek Ecosperity – Taking the heat off cooling: A greener way to cool. [Whitepaper].

https://www.spgroup.com.sg/sustainable-energy-solutions/our-low-carbon-solutions/cooling-and-heating

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