4 Oct, 2023
Yinson GreenTech and Ngee Ann Polytechnic collaborate to drive growth and innovation in renewable energy and smart mobility sectors
Yinson GreenTech (“YGT”) and Ngee Ann Polytechnic (“NP”) today unveiled green energy infrastructures on NP’s campus comprising an IoT-enabled smart energy management technology centre called synergy.lab, a solar farm and electric vehicle (“EV”) charging facilities powered by renewable energy.
Aimed at nurturing the next generation of talent in the urban sustainability and smart mobility fields, the purpose-built green infrastructure marks the launch of a ‘living lab’ on campus for students to explore real-world engineering solutions in green and smart mobility. The official launch ceremony was graced by Acting Minister for Transport Mr Chee Hong Tat.
Advancing Urban Sustainability & Smart Mobility
The lab and charging infrastructure are part of the deliverables from a tripartite agreement that YGT and NP signed with autonomous mobility solutions provider MooVita in April 2023 to explore academic collaborations and testbed projects in the urban sustainability and smart mobility fields.
NP had welcomed MooVita’s MooBus-7 – Singapore’s first driverless shuttle service – on its campus in January 2023.
With MooVita’s MooBus-7 service in operation, YGT hopes to optimise the integration of renewable energy into the charging infrastructure for autonomous vehicles, with NP being the first institution to testbed this through the ‘living lab’ that has been created.
The synergy.lab serves as an integrated ‘control centre’ for the various smart mobility technologies on campus, incorporating advanced data analysis and simulation capabilities. The lab facilitates research to enhance the ecosystem’s efficiency by monitoring and analysing data such as solar power generation, as well as EV charging load and energy consumption.
Equipping Next-Gen Deep Tech Talent
The facilities will benefit up to 600 students from NP’s School of Engineering over three years, equipping them with industry-relevant skills to tackle real-world challenges. For example, students from NP’s Electrical Engineering course will explore smart energy management technologies such as IoT-enabled photovoltaic systems for solar power generation, the use of Artificial Intelligence to maximise green energy utilisation, as well as ways to harness the potential of solar energy for innovative applications.
With YGT’s on-site EV charging infrastructure, students will get to investigate ways to optimise on-site photovoltaic generation for EV fast charging and look forward to future developments such as the integration of a battery energy storage system. They will also gain a deep understanding of both Alternating Current (AC) and Direct Current (DC) charging, delving into electrical conversion, charging times, and their effects on an EV’s battery life – a critical factor in ensuring the long-term sustainability of EVs. Furthermore, they will get to plan and configure the Load Management System to optimise energy usage among the campus’s five EV chargers, looking into essential concepts like load shedding, strategic planning, and the dynamic allocation of electrical capacity to EV chargers.
In addition, Engineering Science and Mechatronics & Robotics students will work on urban mobility projects to enhance the way people live, work and play. For instance, students were involved in designing the telematics system – which uses GPS technology and on-board sensors to plot movement – to track the MooBus’s navigation data. Going forward, students will have the chance to explore working on further enhancements, including designing the telematics for a fleet management system.
Yinson GreenTech CEO, Mr Eirik Barclay said, “Yinson GreenTech is passionate about accelerating the transition to a net zero world and we aim to offer solutions that will drive the adoption of green tech applications in the marine, mobility, and energy segments. Our contribution to R&D and learning are part of our commitment to build a sustainable future workforce that can support continuous improvement towards an efficient, technology-enhanced mobility system of the future. We look forward to the many novel ideas and solutions that we believe will be birthed from synergy.lab.”
Moovita Co-Founder and CEO, Mr Derrick Loh said, “As a forward-thinking autonomous driving solutions provider, we’re delighted to pioneer this partnership alongside Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Yinson GreenTech. After the launch of the NP campus service, we have rolled out and will continue to roll out more MooBus-7 services in Singapore, Malaysia, Tianjin and Hong Kong SAR, as well as other countries in the Asia Pacific region. We are committed to lead the way in making autonomous travel a reality for all.”
Mr Lim Kok Kiang, Principal & CEO of Ngee Ann Polytechnic, said, “The launch of the synergy.lab and green infrastructure on our campus aligns to Singapore’s goals under the SG Green Plan 2030. This initiative not only prepares our students for exciting careers in the fast-growing renewable energy sector, but also underscores our commitment to partnering with industry to drive growth and innovation in this field. We are honoured to collaborate with Yinson GreenTech and MooVita to build our next generation of tech talent.”
