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Tom Crawley

Southeast Asia Science and Innovation Team

Part of Global Science and Innovation Network

5th February 2014 Singapore

An Ocean of Possibilities: Tidal Energy Collaboration in Singapore

This is a guest post by Dr Cameron Johnstone (ESRU, University of Strathclyde),  Dr Michael Lochinvar Sim Abundo and  Mary Ann Joy Quirapas (ERI@N, Nanyang Technological University) and Mark Anthony from the SIN Southeast Asia.

Singapore – Serious about energy

With a population of 5.4 million living and moving on a land area just over 700 square kilometres, few natural resources and a monthly energy consumption of 481kWh per household, in recent years Singapore has recognised the twin concerns of land & liveability and energy supply as key to its continued prosperity.

As a small country with a high dependence on imported energy, rising oil prices pose a serious challenge to the city-state’s competitiveness and growth as a regional hub.

In response, Singapore’s National Research Foundation (NRF) established an Energy National Innovation Challenge (Energy NIC) to bring about significant changes in Singapore’s energy landscape through initiatives in R&D aimed at raising energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions and increasing energy options.

Plugging in with SIN

The Energy Research Institute at NTU (Nanyang Technological University) or ERI@N, boasts several strands of alternative energy research, of which ocean renewable energy (ORE) is a recent highlight.

Working with SIN Southeast Asia in February this year, the two organisations brought together a collection of leading academics from across the region to discuss the progress and feasibility of ORE as a potential energy source for their various economies.

The conference was largely successful in sharing best practice, providing a forum for exchanging knowledge and resulted in the formation of the Southeast Asian Collaboration for Ocean Renewable Energy (SEACORE) network, tasked with promoting the uptake of ORE in Southeast Asia, which NTU maintains by memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with each country’s lead ORE research institute.

In addition, the event also set the stage for the first collaborations in ORE between UK and Singapore.

Of Tides, Teams and Turbines

While significant tidal resource exists in Southeast Asian waters, their tidal flow and bathymetry characteristics require further exploration to assess the techno-economic feasibility of deploying the various different tidal technologies available.

Fresh from the launch of their first turbine test-bed in Singapore’s southern resort island, Sentosa, in which ERI@N deployed their first tidal turbine, the team, led by Dr Srikanth Narasimalu, Dr Simon Seah and Dr Michael Abundo, entered into a MOU with the University of Strathclyde’s Energy Systems Research Unit (ESRU) earlier this year, to investigate opportunities in collaboration while sharing knowledge and understanding of tidal resource characterisation, technology mapping procedures and device development.

This has recently developed further into a joint proposal to NRF with plans being formulated to pursue a matching proposal on the European/UK front.

Indications are that this could lead to a new inter-institutional collaborative agreement being penned between Strathclyde and NTU in the near future.

What next?

Two major strands are currently being pursued to build on the growing relationship between NTU and Strathclyde. Securing of resources on both sides has been given immediate priority in order to support the collaboration effectively. In tandem, planning has begun to facilitate a bilateral researcher exchange programme between institutions, enabling the sharing of knowledge and techniques and, optimistically, a joint turbine development within the next 3 years.

About Tom Crawley

Tom joined the Southeast Asia Science and Innovation team at the British High Commission in Singapore in late 2012. Within the team, Tom is responsible for the SEA-EU-NET project, the…

Tom joined the Southeast Asia Science and Innovation team at the British High Commission in Singapore in late 2012. Within the team, Tom is responsible for the SEA-EU-NET project, the UK-Southeast Asia Knowledge Partnership, and activities around innovation, broadly defined.

Before coming to Singapore, Tom spent six years helping to build an innovation consultancy in Finland, and has also worked at Aalto University and the University of Warwick. He has an M.Sc in Industrial Engineering and Management from Aalto University, and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Birmingham. Tom is married.