Tuas Power launches energy-tracking app

Tracking energy consumption in buildings can now be done on your smartphone.

Energy solutions provider Tuas Power Generation released a product yesterday that supplies businesses with data on past energy usage via a mobile application .

Meters installed in buildings update the application every 30 minutes with information on how much energy a business has consumed.

The app also can condense energy consumption data into charts to reflect consumption patterns.

Businesses can see where power consumption is high and then isolate and address the cause, said Mr Michael Wong, general manager at Tuas Power Supply.

Customers have reduced their energy consumption by up to 18 per cent over the course of one year, using an earlier system whereby meters sent data on power consumption to a web portal, he said.

Tuas Power, which supplies about 630 buildings, said it hopes to have 60 per cent of the 5,000 or more tenants it serves to adopt the product. Mr Wong said the firm would install the meters and provide the app to customers buying electricity from it at no additional charge.

Tuas Power said the product's aim is in line with the 2014 Green Building Masterplan, which seeks to help tenants and landlords of commercial buildings improve energy efficiency. The first two masterplans emphasised the greening of new and existing buildings.

Dr John Keung, chief executive officer of the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), said at the app launch that businesses could save costs through using energy efficiently. But smaller firms face the hurdle of initial investment costs when it comes to improving energy efficiency, he noted.

"For the small and medium-sized enterprise tenants, we want to help them overcome the hurdle of initial investment to go green," he added.

Dr Keung said the BCA will provide guidelines on crafting lease contracts that encourage landlords and tenants to adopt environmentally friendly practices, and set up industry standards that guide tenants on making their premises more energy-efficient.

Mr Rajkumar T.V., project manager at warehousing company YCH Group, said that the company would make use of Tuas Power's new product.

Jeremy Koh

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 14, 2016, with the headline Tuas Power launches energy-tracking app. Subscribe