New Grants Aim to Reduce Singapore's Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Thursday, 8 October 2020

Grants seek to encourage companies to switch to water-cooled chillers using low-global
warming potential (GWP) refrigerants

The National Environment Agency (NEA), Economic Development Board (EDB), and Building and Construction Authority (BCA) announced today the launch of three new grants to encourage companies to make an early switch to water-cooled chillers using lower global warming potential (GWP[1]) refrigerants. The switch will help reduce Singapore’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions arising from the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in the refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) sector.

2          HFCs are a class of chemicals that are commonly used as refrigerants in RAC equipment. When emitted into the environment, HFCs are much more potent than carbon dioxide in contributing to global warming. As one of the measures for Singapore to reduce our GHG emissions, NEA intends to restrict the supply of water-cooled chillers using high-GWP refrigerants from the fourth quarter of 2022.

3          A low-GWP refrigerant chiller, which uses refrigerants with GWP of 15 or less, generally results in lower energy costs as it is more energy efficient but has higher upfront cost than a high-GWP refrigerant chiller[2]. The three grants introduced today will support companies to switch to low-GWP refrigerant water-cooled chillers and smoothen the transition to the use of climate-friendly RAC equipment. The grants are part of the package of mitigation measures to reduce HFC-related GHG emissions announced in Parliament on 4 March 2020. The grants will support part of the cost of low-GWP refrigerant chillers for space cooling.

4          Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment said, “Climate change is an existential challenge for Singapore, which requires a whole-of-nation response, and efforts by all sectors to reduce emissions. I encourage companies to do their part by applying for these grants and make an early switch to equipment with lower GWP refrigerants. This will go a long way in reducing the environmental impact arising from the use of HFCs and help to fight climate change.”

5          BCA will administer the grant under a new scheme, Grant for Low-GWP Refrigerant Chillers (LoGR), which supports eligible owners or operators of existing buildings types[3] similar to those regulated under the Building Control (Environmental Sustainability Measures for Existing Buildings) Regulations 2013. The grants for industrial facilities and data centres will come under the existing Energy Efficiency Fund (E2F) and Resource Efficiency Grant for Energy (REG(E)). The E2F and REG(E) are respectively administered by NEA and EDB. Companies which do not meet any of the above criteria may contact NEA to check on their eligibility for the grant.

6          Please refer to Annex A for an infographic on the three respective grants.

[1] Global Warming Potential (GWP) is a measure of the warming effect of a gas relative to the warming effect of an equivalent mass of CO₂, usually over a 100-year time horizon.

[2] The typical refrigerant used in chillers is R134a, which has a GWP of 1,300. One climate-friendly alternative is R1233zd, which has a GWP of 1.

[3] All existing buildings excluding industrial buildings; transport facilities; religious buildings; data centres; utility buildings; and residential buildings, except for serviced apartments.

Download PDF version of the Media Release here
Download Annexes here