Powering sustainable development on Jurong Island

Sustainable resource management challenge on Jurong Island

Jurong Island, formed by a merger of seven islands, houses more than 100 companies that generate S$100 billion of annual output. To date, the energy and chemical hub has attracted S$50 billion of investments to the nation.¹

First conceived in 1983, the bold plans and rapid developments on the island present environmental and resource challenges across energy, water, waste and land use.

4 key challenges for Jurong Island

Our solutions were designed to help address challenges across these areas:

Energy

Environmental Challenges

Industrial sector will account for 60% of nation’s CO₂e emissions by 2020²
Chemicals and petroleum refining activities will produce over 60% of total sector emissions²

Economic Challenges

Firms to be charged S$5 per tonne of GHG (Green house gases) emitted from 2019; carbon tax is expected to increase to between S$10 and S$15 per tonne by 2030¹⁰
Impact equivalent to increasing the cost of processing per barrel of crude oil from S$5 to S$9¹¹

Water

Environmental Challenges

Jurong Island uses more than 40 million gallons of water daily, equivalent to 10% of the country’s total water demand³
Non-domestic sector will account for 60%of total water demand by 2030⁴

Economic Challenges

Water is central to the petrochemicals industry and may account for over 30% of operating costs¹²
Water prices will increase by 30% from 1 July 2017 in 2 phases¹³

Waste

Environmental Challenges

The amount of waste sent for disposal daily has risen 7x since 1970⁵ nationwide
Only 6% of plastic waste is being recycled nationwide⁶
Semakau Landfill will reach full capacity by 2035⁷
Waste on Jurong Island is expected to grow at 3% annually between now and 2030⁸

Economic Challenges

Rising labour and fuel costs will increase waste management costs for Jurong Island tenants

Land

Environmental Challenges

Since 1986, most coral reefs in Singapore have lost up to 65% of their live coral cover due to land reclamation⁹

Economic Challenges

Land demand will continue to outstrip supply, putting upward pressure on rents
Other innovative land use may require high capex and may be unfeasible for private firms¹⁴

Unlocking greater value and enabling sustainability

Taking on the role of a centralised energy and environmental solutions provider, Sembcorp offers deep integration expertise to deliver value for Jurong Island customers. Our services are also designed to enable sustainability across these key resources:

Reduces capital investment for customers so they can better manage risks and focus on their core businesses.

Energy

Ability to harness energy from diversity of fuels, including wood waste, industrial, commercial and municipal waste as well as waste gases from wastewater treatment.

Water

Integrates water supply, wastewater treatment and water reclamation into a ‘closed loop’, minimising water discharge & conserving water resources.

Waste

Unique capabilities to manage entire energy-from-waste value chain, from waste collection to steam distribution.

Land

Centralised energy facilities reduce land requirements, and a single service corridor brings safety and security benefits.

Powering sustainable development on Jurong Island for 25 years and counting

For over two decades now, Sembcorp provides centralised sustainability solutions to address the energy, water, waste, and land use challenges on Jurong Island. Our solutions include power generation, industrial wastewater treatment, conversion of waste into energy, as well as the provision of service corridor solutions that transport and store materials for customers throughout the island. Sembcorp’s unique integrated management of resources help businesses on Jurong Island lower costs, achieve operational efficiencies and meet their environmental sustainability targets.

What is a
circular economy?

In a circular economy business model, physical resources are recaptured and reused as far as possible. This is different from the traditional linear economy model of take, make, use and dispose.

Why pursue a circular economy on Jurong Island?

Be environmentally friendly

Address key resource challenges with the goal of maximising positive environmental impact

Achieve cost savings

Raise energy efficiency
Reuse materials wherever possible

Increase business resiliency

Use resources generated within Jurong Island to support demand
Businesses on the island are less vulnerable to potential external supply shocks

How Sembcorp promotes the circular economy on Jurong Island

Sembcorp supports Jurong Island to be a resource-productive and resilient energy and chemical hub by adopting four key concepts.

Energy resilience

Water use

Recovering energy from waste

Optimised land use

Sembcorp supports sustainability on Jurong Island across four key resources

LEGEND

Energy

Water

Solid Waste

Land

IMAGE

Offering urban sustainability solutions to customers everywhere

Our achievements on Jurong Island as an integrated energy and environmental solutions provider demonstrate Sembcorp’s commitment to doing our part to create a sustainable future.

As a forerunner of innovation and pioneer of sustainability solutions, our good track record has attracted the attention of sustainability-conscious customers everywhere. To find out how we can help you meet your sustainability targets, contact us today.

References

The Straits Times (2015), “Jurong Island’s chemical romance”. Click here
National Climate Change Secretariat (2013), Industry Energy Efficiency: Technology Roadmap. Click here
Public Utilities Board (2016), Our Water, Our Future. Click here
Public Utilities Board (2018), “Singapore Water Story”. Click here
The Straits Times (2015), “Efforts to manage Singapore’s waste”. Click here
The Business Times (2018), “Singapore’s plastic recycling rate only 6%; inconvenience one of reasons for not recycling”. Click here
Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (2018), “Managing our waste landfill”. Click here
AlphaBeta Singapore analysis based on the National Environment Agency (NEA) waste statistics, manufacturing share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and chemical sector share of manufacturing output.
Reef Ecology Lab (2018), “Coral Reefs of Singapore”. Click here
The Straits Times (2018), “Singapore Budget 2018: Carbon tax of S$5 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions to be levied”. Click here
The Straits Times (2017), “Carbon tax likely to impact oil refineries, wholesale electricity prices”. Click here
The New Paper (2017), “Wafer, petrochem industries to be hit hardest by water hike”. Click here. The analysis also considered case studies of selected petrochemical plants around the world.
The Straits Times (2017), “Singapore Budget 2017: Water prices to increase by 30 percent from July 1 in two phases.” Click here
JTC Corporation (2018), “Allocation policies”. Click here
Public Utilities Board (2018), “Singapore Water Story”. Click here

(2018), Population Trends 2018. Click here

Sembcorp’s existing projects	Estimated water savings Cubic metres per day	Description
Seawater intake for cooling	18,250	Blowdown and evaporative losses from the use of air cooling towers instead of Sembcorp’s seawater cooling solutions amount to around 18,250 cubic metres – enough to meet more than 38,000 households’ daily water demand
High-grade industrial water	9,450	Sembcorp reclaims about 9,450 cubic metres of water for industrial use, which is enough for about 20,000 households’ daily water demand
Integrated wastewater treatment plants (incl. ERP)	4,600	Sembcorp reclaims 4,600 cubic metres of treated industrial wastewater on Jurong Island to produce demineralised water daily. Without reclamation, an equal volume of NEWater must be used as feedstock, which accounts for more than 9,700 households’ water demand each day
Total	32,300	Total daily savings of about 32,300 cubic metres of water, which is enough for over 68,000 households’ water demand in Singapore*

Sembcorp’s existing projects	Estimated land savings Square metres per year	Description
Integrated wastewater treatment plants	280,000	If not for Sembcorp’s centralised wastewater treatment plants, 14 companies would have to build their own treatment facilities, taking up an additional 280,000 square metres of land.
Service corridors	152,000	Constructing service corridors vertically instead of horizontally allows more than 152,000 square metres of land to be freed up – an area that is approximately the size of 21 football fields
Total	432,000	These initiatives free up over 43 hectares of land, representing roughly 1.4% of Jurong Island’s land mass

Sembcorp’s existing projects	Estimated waste recovered Tonnes per year	Description
Industrial and Commercial Waste plant	210,000	The energy-from-waste plant recovers ~600 tonnes of industrial and commercial waste, amounting to ~3% Singapore’s daily total waste generated, to generate more than 1,800 tonnes of steam daily
Woodchip boilers	70,000	Sembcorp recovers around 36% of all woodchip processed from construction and demolition waste in Singapore to produce around 250,000 tonnes of steam at its woodchip boilers annually. Without these boilers, the energy value would not have been recovered from the waste wood
Total	280,000	Sembcorp recovers about 280,000 tonnes of waste per year, which is about 4% of Singapore’s 7.7 million tonnes of total waste generated in 2017

Sembcorp’s existing projects	Estimated carbon abatement Metric tonnes per year*	Description
	Biogenic emissions
Cogeneration plants (Sakra and Banyan)	340,000	Steam generation at the Sakra and Banyan cogeneration plants are over 80% more efficient compared to standard thermal boilers because they produce less carbon emissions
ICW boilers	19,000	Biogenic materials account for up to 16% of the Industrial and Commercial Waste (ICW)
Woodchip boilers	40,000	Burning 36% of total woodchip processed from construction and demolition waste allows Sembcorp to generate biogenic steam for customers
Consolidation of thermal boilers	16,000	Consolidating waste gases as fuel into one boiler achieves scale and increases energy efficiency⁺
Total	415,000	Sembcorp’s plants contribute to 415,000 metric tonnes of carbon emissions abatement per year. This is equivalent to taking over 91,000 cars off the roads

Back

Resource Revolution on Jurong Island

Sustainable resource management challenge on Jurong Island

4 key challenges for Jurong Island

Our solutions were designed to help address challenges across these areas:

Energy

Environmental Challenges

Economic Challenges

Water

Environmental Challenges

Economic Challenges

Waste

Environmental Challenges

Economic Challenges

Land

Environmental Challenges

Economic Challenges

Unlocking greater value and enabling sustainability

Powering sustainable development on Jurong Island for 25 years and counting

Sembcorp supports sustainability on Jurong Island across four key resources

LEGEND

References

Connect with us

Resource Revolution on Jurong Island

Sustainable resource management challenge on Jurong Island

4 key challenges for Jurong Island

Our solutions were designed to help address challenges across these areas:

Energy

Environmental Challenges

Economic Challenges

Water

Environmental Challenges

Economic Challenges

Waste

Environmental Challenges

Economic Challenges

Land

Environmental Challenges

Economic Challenges

Unlocking greater value and enabling sustainability

Powering sustainable development on Jurong Island for 25 years and counting

Sembcorp supports sustainability on Jurong Island across four key resources

LEGEND

References

Replenishing the water we use

Promoting better, more optimised land use

Recovering energy from waste

Towards energy resilience