Keppel wins centralised cooling system contract for Tengah
The Housing Board has awarded global asset manager Keppel a 20-year contract to build and operate centralised cooling systems in three Build-To-Order (BTO) projects in Tengah.
The cooling systems managed by Keppel’s infrastructure division will serve about 3,500 households across the upcoming BTO projects - Brickland Weave, Plantation Edge I and II and Plantation Verge, HDB said on Sept 30.
The projects, which have already been launched, are slated for completion between the second and fourth quarter of 2027.
HDB’s award of the latest contract to Keppel, comes after reports of condensation and leaking in an earlier rollout of centralised cooling in homes in Tengah.
That rollout was handled by utilities company SP Group and manufacturer Daikin.
HDB said it will leverage Keppel’s “track record and expertise” to deliver the cooling system to homes, citing the firm’s combined cooling portfolio of more than 260,000 refrigeration tonnes in the region.
The board pointed out that Keppel was awarded a 30-year contract to build and operate a new large-scale district cooling plant in Jurong Lake District in 2023, and it also provides cooling solutions to CapitaLand and Perennial Holdings developments in Singapore and China.
“Keppel will be incorporating innovative engineering and design features and utilising industrial grade materials to achieve industry standard performance, durability, as well as to take into account aesthetic considerations,” HDB added.
The cooling system will be connected to Keppel’s operations nerve centre where workers can control the system remotely and monitor performance in real-time.
HDB chief executive Tan Meng Dui said with more players in the market providing centralised cooling systems in public housing estates, the board hopes that this would raise the capabilities of firms in the industry and make “HDB living highly liveable and sustainable”.
Ms Cindy Lim, chief executive of Keppel’s infrastructure division, said that the firm is well-placed to work with HDB to provide modern cooling solutions to homeowners, as it has served the cooling needs of business parks, commercial offices, hotels and malls for more than 20 years.
Homeowners of the three BTO projects can visit Keppel’s experience centre at the HDB Hub in Toa Payoh to learn more about the cooling system from Sept 30. They can also see Keppel’s cooling system design in a mock-up of a home unit.
An earlier launch of a centralised cooling system in Tengah by SP Group had run into teething issues, which the firm attributed to compressed timelines, because of pandemic construction delays.
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