Siemens in Singapore is collaborating with local energy solutions provider Diamond Energy to launch a demand response pilot programme at the Siemens Centre. This is a first-of-its-kind project in the country in which a commercial building will deploy energy saving demand response services. The pilot project is a part of a broader multi-year partnership between the two companies to demonstrate the feasibility of customised technology and solutions to deploy Interruptible Load (IL) operations.
This initiative is partly in response to the Singapore Energy Market Authority’s (EMA) IL scheme introduced in 2004. The scheme allows consumers to participate in the power reserves market by offering standby capacity in return for reserve payments. Allowing the consumer loads to complement power generation increases the EMA’s available reserve capacity, besides enhancing market competition. Currently, the EMA has 21 MW of IL registered under the scheme; however, most of it comes from the manufacturing sector. The Siemens Centre is the first commercial building in Singapore to participate in the IL scheme. Under the pilot project, Siemens will supply components such as smart meters and other communications equipment. It will also conduct site surveys for equipment installation. Diamond Energy will manage the IL operations using its proprietary platform; the company has been working with the industrial and manufacturing sectors participating in the IL scheme since 2006. The project, when complete, is expected to provide significant reductions to the energy usage of the Siemens Centre.
