Singapore has broken ground on a S$62.5 million industrial test facility designed to help companies move low-carbon technologies from laboratory research into larger-scale trials.
The Low-Carbon Technology Translational Testbed, known as LCT3, will be located on Jurong Island and hosted by A*STAR’s Institute of Sustainability for Chemicals, Energy and Environment. A*STAR and the Singapore Economic Development Board announced the groundbreaking October 23.
Its first announced users are Amogy, IHI Corporation and Singapore startup Metha8. The projects cover ammonia-to-hydrogen conversion, catalysts for turning carbon dioxide into sustainable aviation fuel, and an integrated methanol-to-power system.
The facility will offer shared infrastructure, utilities, permits and licences for pilots under industry-relevant conditions. The aim is to let developers test equipment without having to build a separate trial facility from scratch.
A*STAR and Amogy plan to pilot ammonia-cracking systems intended to produce up to one tonne of hydrogen a day, alongside work on lower-cost catalysts. That is a project target, not a statement that the new testbed is already producing hydrogen.
IHI’s collaboration will examine catalyst performance at industrial flow rates, temperatures and pressures and over extended operating periods. Metha8’s project will test a system that produces hydrogen from methanol while capturing carbon dioxide before power generation.
The economic challenge is scaling technologies reliably in an industrial setting. The agencies say industrial activities, including manufacturing, account for nearly two-thirds of Singapore’s emissions. The announced trials are intended to generate operating data; they are not proof of commercial viability or a measured reduction in national emissions.
A*STAR says it is also developing potential collaborations with CERT Systems, Greenlyzer, Obayashi and RTI International.
JBizNews Desk | Singapore
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