Mapletree Investments, MPACT appoint SP Group to build district cooling system at HarbourFront

It will reduce operating costs and carbon emissions, while freeing up space for operational or commercial use

Mapletree Investments and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust (MPACT) have appointed SP Group to design, build and operate a new distributed district cooling (DDC) system at HarbourFront Precinct.

The system will connect five buildings – Bank of America HarbourFront, the new HarbourFront Centre, the existing HarbourFront Towers 1 and 2, and VivoCity – supplying chilled water through three injection nodes.

The buildings will rely on a shared system that aggregates cooling demand, to achieve economies of scale and improve cooling efficiency, instead of each building running its own chiller.

“This reduces operating costs and carbon emissions, while freeing up valuable space previously used for individual cooling plants for operational or commercial use,” said the companies in a joint statement on Tuesday (Jan 20).

The DDC network will be implemented over two phases, commencing in 2027. It is targeted to be fully operational by 2031.

The project will be one of Singapore’s largest brownfield district cooling deployments. Located at HarbourFront Precinct, it supports Mapletree’s plans to “rejuvenate... and enhance building energy efficiency” across the area, they added.

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The venture is part of Mapletree’s commitment to achieve net zero by 2050.

The DDC system is projected to hit over 5 per cent of savings in cooling-related expenses a year, with an installed cooling capacity of 17,150 refrigeration tonnes, said the companies.

It is expected to be 8 per cent more energy-efficient than the National Environment Agency’s minimum energy efficiency standards for water-cooled chilled water systems in industrial facilities, upon its full implementation.

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The system “will also reduce carbon emissions by about 13,700 tonnes over the 20-year operating period”, noted the companies. “This is comparable to the emissions from powering 550 three-room HDB households a year.”

This is Singapore’s second brownfield DDC deployment, after SP Group’s work at Tampines Central in March 2025.

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