Singapore: SMEs to get funding for energy-efficient tech upgrades

Singapore: SMEs to get funding for energy-efficient tech upgrades

Starting from Monday (April 3) , local companies will be able to tap the
National Environment Agency's (NEA) Energy Efficiency Fund to improve their
use of energy resources.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in particular, are encouraged to
upgrade their manufacturing facilities through resource-efficient
technologies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Together with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), NEA has
identified a list of standard retrofit projects, including revamp of
lighting, motors and air-conditioning, that can help SMEs reduce their
energy consumption and operating costs.

Owners and operators of local manufacturing facilities with annual sales not
exceeding S$500 million will be able to recoup up to a third of their
investment in manpower, professional services, equipment and materials that
promote energy-efficient equipment or technologies, according to a statement
by NEA.

In addition to helping offset the costs of buying and installing the new
equipment, NEA has also simplified the grant application process to reduce
the paperwork required.

The newly-launched fund consolidates the range of existing incentive schemes
administered by NEA.

For example, a manufacturing SME that chooses to replace its existing motor
with an energy-efficient one needs only to submit the motor energy
performance test report issued by an accredited laboratory to NEA for
verification of energy savings.

Companies can realise energy cost savings per annum ranging from S$130 to
S$4,000, just from selecting a more energy-efficient model of motor, and the
additional investment can be recovered within 1.2 to 2.4 years, said NEA.

Moreover, NEA will fund up to 30 per cent of the motor replacement project's
qualifying cost.

Manufacturing companies can also consider more complex energy-saving
improvement projects, such as high-efficiency heating and cooling systems.

The funding support will also cover a wide range of energy-efficiency
efforts, such as energy assessments, energy-efficient design of new
facilities and energy-efficiency investments, where NEA will fund up to half
the cost of a design workshop or S$600,000, whichever is lower.

NEA will also fund up to half the cost of energy audits and assessments,
subject to a cap of S$200,000.

In Budget 2017, the Government announced the implementation of a carbon tax
on the emission of greenhouse gases starting from 2019.

While the tax will generally be applied upstream - for example, on power
stations and other large direct emitters - the manufacturing sector is one
of the major users of electricity.

The industrial sector is the largest consumer of energy that accounts for 60
per cent of Singapore's greenhouse gas emissions, and improving the energy
efficiency of the sector is one of the key strategies to reduce emissions
and fulfil Singapore's pledge under the Paris Agreement on climate change,
said the NEA.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.todayonline.com/business/smes-get-funding-energy-efficient-tech-u
pgrades

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com