The Energy Conservation Act 2012 (“ECA“) will be amended with effect from 1 December 2025, following the coming into force of the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act 2024 (“Amendment Act“) aimed at introducing minimum energy efficiency standards (“MEES“) for all existing energy systems in industrial facilities in Singapore. Please see our November 2024 NewsBytes article titled “Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill Passed to Extend Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards to Water-Cooled Chilled Water Systems in Existing Industrial Facilities” for details on the Amendment Act.
As part of Singapore’s broader efforts towards sustainability and energy transition, the ECA was enacted in 2012 to introduce mandatory energy management practices for energy-intensive industrial facilities. In 2017, the ECA was enhanced to strengthen energy management practices and introduce MEES for industry systems. These MEES sought to target energy efficiency improvements at the system level, rather than at the equipment-level, and have been introduced by the National Environment Agency (“NEA“) in phases.
- Phase One commenced in December 2019 with NEA’s announcement of the MEES for water-cooled chilled water systems (“CWSs“) as the energy efficiency benchmark for the industry, to provide guidance for industrial facilities on how to optimise their systems to achieve higher energy efficiency and cost savings. According to data reported to NEA under the ECA then, CWSs were found to be the highest electricity-consuming common system in the industry, in addition to being mostly operated at sub-optimal energy efficiency levels. The first implementation of MEES began on 1 December 2020 and was for water-cooled CWSs in new industrial facilities operational on or after 1 December 2020.
- Phase Two extends the implementation of MEES for water-cooled CWSs to include existing energy-intensive facilities. These systems are required to conform to MEES by 1 December 2025.
- Phase Three further extends the implementation of MEES for water-cooled CWSs to all remaining industrial facilities which are less energy-intensive and not currently regulated under the ECA. These systems are required to conform to MEES by 1 December 2029.
New MEES for Water-Cooled CWSs for Space Cooling in New Industrial Facilities
From 31 December 2024 to 31 January 2025, NEA consulted on proposed changes intended to align the MEES for water-cooled CWSs used for space cooling in new industrial facilities (i.e. those that are applying for planning permission or equivalent on or after 1 April 2026) with the Building and Construction Authority’s energy efficiency standard, currently set at 0.63kW/RT (0.179kWe/kWc) regardless of chilled water supply temperature.
Overall, respondents were supportive of the proposed changes. Key feedback included concerns about the need to operate their water-cooled CWSs at low chilled water supply temperatures to meet specific cooling requirements by clients or humidity control demands of their production spaces.
In view of the responses received, instead of applying a single MEES level across all chilled water supply temperature, NEA will adjust the proposed MEES level by including an incremental 0.01kW/RT for every 1°C reduction in chilled water supply at temperatures below 7°C. For chilled water supply temperatures at 7°C and above, the MEES of 0.63kW/RT will apply. Legislative amendments on this are expected to be gazetted by November 2025 for the new MEES requirements to be implemented starting 1 April 2026.
Grants
To offset the capital cost of retrofitting water-cooled CWSs, companies can utilise existing Government grant schemes before the mandatory requirements take effect. Large manufacturing companies can apply for the Economic Development Board’s Resource Efficiency Grant for Emissions to adopt energy efficient equipment or technologies including CWS retrofits. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises can apply for the Energy Efficiency Grant to offset the cost of complying with MEES for their CWS.
Operators and users of industrial facilities would have to assess the design and procurement of their energy-consuming systems to ensure timely compliance with these upcoming requirements. Should you have any questions on the updates, please reach out to our team.
Click on the following links for more information:
- Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act 2024 (available at the Singapore Statutes Online website at sso.agc.gov.sg)
- Consultation and Response titled “Proposed changes to MEES for water-cooled chilled water systems used for space cooling in new industrial facilities” (available at the REACH website at reach.gov.sg)
- Opening Speech at 2nd Reading of the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, Mr Baey Yam Keng (available at the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment website at mse.gov.sg)
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