Singapore Airport’s Budget Terminal to Test Solar Power; Tender Issued

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) is embarking on a solar photovoltaic (PV) test-bed project, to convert electricity from direct sunlight, at Singapore’s Budget Terminal (BT).

A tender for the project was issued this week for interested bidders to submit their proposals. The project, which will take place from around June 2009 to mid 2010, aims to provide an alternate source of clean and sustainable energy at the BT to supplement the terminal’s main power supply and reduce electricity costs.

The solar PV system will be installed at the BT Departure Hall’s rooftop. The system involves the installation of PV panels on the rooftop to capture sunlight during daytime. The solar PV system converts sunlight into electricity and is estimated to generate about 281,000 kilowatt hour of energy per year which translates into an estimated electrical cost savings of around Sin$60,000 per year.

Mr Lim Kim Choon, CAAS Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, said, “This solar PV system project is part of our efforts to make Changi Airport more environmental-friendly. We are on the look-out for opportunities to adopt new technologies to reduce energy costs. In addition, through this project, we hope to be able to contribute to the research efforts of Singapore’s clean energy industry by enabling research organisations to make use of the extensive weather and electrical data generated from our solar PV system for their research studies.”

The solar PV project at the BT is part of Singapore’s Clean Energy Research and Test-Bedding (CERT) programme launched by the Economic Development Board and Clean Energy Programme Office in August 2007.

In collaboration with Singapore Polytechnic (SP), who is the lead research organisation under the CERT programme, CAAS will make available all environmental data such as wind speed, ambient temperature, relative humidity, temperature of solar module etc as well as electrical data such as voltage, current, energy etc pertaining to the solar PV system for SP’s research studies on the performance of PV technology under tropical climate for the promotion of clean energy usage.

The tender closes on 19 March 2009.

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