Singapore’s First Hydrogen-Powered Data Center Launched By DayOne Using SOFC Technology
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Fuel Cell Works.
These two bullet points act as sub-headings.
- DayOne has broken ground on its first AI-ready hyperscale data center in Singapore, a 20MW facility set to be operational in 2026. The project integrates 100% renewable energy, SOFC-based hydrogen power generation, and cutting-edge hybrid cooling technologies.
- Strategic partnerships with Sembcorp and NUS will drive green energy adoption and R&D in sustainable tropical data center innovation, aligning with Singapore’s AI and digital infrastructure goals.
This data centre and the companies and the technologies behind it, are certainly ones to watch.
The R & D and innovation behind it could allow data centres to be built in more tropical places than is currently possible.
Singapore Nods To 1.2 GW Of Low-Carbon Electricity Imports From Vietnam
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) has granted conditional approval to Sembcorp Utilities (SCU), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sembcorp Industries, to import 1.2 GW of low-carbon electricity, including offshore wind power, from Vietnam
This is the first paragraph.
The conditional approval means the project by SCU has been preliminarily assessed to be technically and commercially viable. The approval facilitates the process of obtaining necessary regulatory nods and licences for the project.
So now the real planning can begin.
This map shows Singapore and Vietnam.
The article says this about the electricity connection.
The low-carbon electricity is planned to be transmitted from Vietnam to Singapore via new subsea cables that will span a distance of around 1,000 kilometres.
My only worry about this project, is will China object to wind farms in the South China Sea, which they seem to increasingly regard as solely belonging to them.
I have a few thoughts.
Singapore’s Energy Import Policy
These last two paragraphs of the article describe Singapore’s energy import policy.
In 2021, Singapore unveiled its plans to import up to 4 GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035.
To date, EMA has granted conditional approvals to projects from various sources, comprising 2 GW from Indonesia, 1 GW from Cambodia, and 1.2 GW from Vietnam.
Note.
- 4.2 GW of interconnectors will be available from Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam.
- In 2022, Singapore’s total electricity consumption was 54.9 TWh, according to the Singapore government.
- 54.9 TWh averaged out over the year is 6.3 GW.
- According to Wikipedia, 95 % of their electricity is generated by gas.
It looks like Singapore will will be needing to import more energy.
Will Developing Countries Benefit From Energy Exports?
Singapore is purchasing electricity from its neighbours in this example.
I believe that there are many countries around the world, who will be able to develop energy exports based on renewable energy.
Conclusion
We will see lots more projects like this.
Giant Solar Farm Project In Doubt After Disagreement Between Mike Cannon-Brookes And Andrew Forrest
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Guardian.
This is the sub-heading.
Australian billionaires had backed $30bn Sun Cable venture designed to help power Darwin, Indonesia and Singapore but the company has gone into voluntary administration.
It does look like the administrators will be able to continue the project and look for more funding.
Qatar must be in the frame, as this link will probably cut some of their gas sales.
I wrote about this monster project in Sun Cable’s Australia-Asia PowerLink.
I wonder if this administration will have any effects on the prospects of the other giant intercontinental interconnectors?
- EuroAfrica Interconnector – See The EuroAfrica Interconnector
- EuroAsia Interconnector – See The EuroAsia Interconnector
- Morroco-UK Power Project – See Moroccan Solar-Plus-Wind To Be Linked To GB In ‘Ground-Breaking’ Xlinks Project
- TransPacific Interconnector – See Chile Wants To Export Solar Energy To Asia Via 15,000km Submarine Cable
The economics will decide. But I do think, the last one could be a bit ambitious.
Sun Cable’s Australia-Asia PowerLink
Two weeks ago, in How Clean Energy And Jobs Can Flow From Morocco to The UK, I talked about a plan to generate electricity using solar arrays in Southern Morocco and use an underwater interconnector to bring it to the UK.
If you think that project was ambitious and distinctly bonkers, then that project is outshone by Sun Cable‘s Australia-Asia PowerLink, which is shown in this SunCable graphic.
These are a few facts about the project.
- Electricity will be generated by solar panels in the Northern Territories of Australia.
- There will be 12,000 hectares of solar panels in Australia, which will create 3.2 GW of electricity for distribution.
- There will be a 36-42 GWh battery in Australia.
- There will be 4,200 km of submarine HVDC cable to deliver the electricity to Singapore and Indonesia.
- It looks like there will be batteries in Darwin and Singapore.
- The link could supply up to fifteen percent of Singapore’s electricity.
It is certainly an ambitious project, that will contain the world’s largest solar array, the world’s largest battery, and the world’s longest submarine power cable.
Note.
- Currently, the largest solar park in the world is Bhadia Solar Park in India, which is half the size of the solar array proposed.
- At 720 km, the North Sea Link is the largest undersea HVDC is operation.
- The largest battery in the UK is Electric Mountain in Snowdonia, which is only 9.1 GWh.
- A Tesla Megapack battery of the required size would probably cost at least ten billion dollars.
This is certainly, a project that is dealing in superlatives.
Is The Australia-Asia PowerLink Possible?
I shall look at the various elements.
The Solar Panels
I have flown a Piper Arrow from Adelaide to Cairns.
- My route was via Coober Pedy, Yulara, Alice Springs and Mount Isa.
- There didn’t seem to be much evidence of rain.
- The circle from South to East took four days of almost continuous flying, as Australia is not a small country.
- It left me with the impression of a flat featureless and hot country.
Having seen solar panels on flat areas in the UK, the Australian Outback could be ideal for solar farms.
Sun Cable are talking about 10,000 hectares of solar panels, which is roughly 38.6 square miles or a 6.2 mile square.
Given enough money to source the solar panels and install them, I would expect that the required solar farm could be realised.
The Cable
Consider.
- The North Sea Link is a 1.4 GW cable that is 720 km. long.
- I would size it as 10008 GW-km, by multiplying the units together.
- The Australia-Asia PowerLink will be 4200 km or nearly six times as long.
- But at 3.2 GW as opposed to 1.4 GW, it will have 2.3 times the capacity.
- I would size it as 13,400 GW-km.
Whichever way you look at it, the amount of cable needed will be massive.
The Battery
Currently, the largest battery in the world is the Bath County Pumped Storage Station, which has these characteristics.
- Peak power of 3 GW
- Storage capacity of 24 GWh.
Sun Cable’s 36-42 GWh battery will be the largest in the world, by a long way.
But I don’t think pumped storage will be suitable in the usually dry climate of Northern Australia.
The largest lithium-ion battery in the world is the Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia, which is only 150 MW/194 MWh, so something else will have to be used.
As Highview Power are building a CRYOBattery for the Atacama region in Chile, which I wrote about in The Power Of Solar With A Large Battery, I wonder, if a cluster of these could provide sufficient storage.
The New Bus For London In Singapore
I just picked up this article about the New Bus for London in the Straits Times in Singapore.
Their slant on the bus, is that Metroline, who will be running the bus on route 24 by the summer, is owned by ComfortDelgro, who are a Singaporean company.
In Singapore they actually operate 1200 Wright buses, most of which were assembled locally.
So it will be interesting to see, if this all leads to a New Bus for Singapore!
C Wouldn’t Have Gone In These!
The cars are now up on the Emirates Air-Line
Although they weren’t running this morning.
C only went on a cable car once. It was in Singapore. And that was only after a lot of protests! I don’t think she’d heard about the tragedy that happened with that cable car.
Alan Shadrake Freed By Singapore
Alan Shadrake, who has been imprisoned in Singapore for writing a book critical of their use of the death penalty has been freed according to this report on the BBC.
He has been immediately deported back to the UK.
This is a story that will be worth following.
Jailed For Speaking Out Against the Death Penalty
Alan Shadrake has been jailed in Singapore for writing a book about the country’s use of the death pemalty. Here’s an extract from the report on the BBC.
A British author of a book about the death penalty in Singapore, Alan Shadrake, has lost his appeal against a six-week jail sentence.
The 76-year old, convicted of insulting the judiciary, will undergo medical tests before beginning his sentence.
His book, Once A Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock, alleges a lack of impartiality in the implementation of Singapore’s laws.
It’s about time, that the death penalty was abolished everywhere. Jailing seventy-six-year old authors doesn’t do the case of those who believe in it much good.
The Anonymous Widower 