PHOTOS PHOTO SPH MEDIA

Punctuated by canary yellow staircase handrails and balusters, this industrial facility in the western part of Singapore is quite literally more than meets the eye. It is a floating bed of energy called the Floating Living Lab (pictured above) — a first-of-its-kind stacked energy storage system on water that can refuel liquefied natural gas vessels, charge electric harbour craft and even act as a power grid for remote islands.

A project by Seatrium, a Singapore-headquartered company, the floating facility reduces operational footprint by 40 per cent. The innovative system helps Seatrium to circumvent land constraints. Its maximum storage capacity of 7.5 megawatt hours can power the electricity needs of more than 600 four-room Housing and Development Board households for a day in a single discharge.

The facility, which will start operations in the first half of 2024, is essential in mitigating solar intermittency caused by Singapore’s changing tropical weather conditions. The island-state’s expeditious transition towards adopting renewable energy is part of its larger Green Plan 2030, which is to be climate resilient by meeting targets such as scaling up deployment of clean energy and sustainable economic growth.