SembCorp Gas (SembGas), the pioneer commercial natural gas importer and retailer in Singapore, in a pilot project jointly undertaken with the Ministry of the Environment (ENV) and SBS Transit Ltd (formerly known as Singapore Bus Services Ltd) (SBS), will be introducing Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as vehicle fuel in Singapore from March 2002.

ENV, SBS and SembGas today signed an agreement to proceed with a CNG bus pilot project at the Auto Salon 2001 Show in the Singapore Expo.

As part of the pilot project, SembGas will build, own and operate the first CNG fuelling station in the country. Located on Jurong Island, the CNG fuelling station will start operations in March 2002.

The pilot fuelling station represents a total investment of $2.6 million. ENV has committed to funding up to 50 per cent of this investment. This CNG pilot programme is the first project to be funded under ENV’s Innovation for Environmental Sustainability Fund.

SBS, SembGas’ first CNG customer, will purchase and operate up to 30 CNG buses beginning in March 2002 with the introduction of 12 buses on a service route between Jurong East and Jurong Island.

The pilot programme will help to assess the commercial viability of operating CNG buses and fuelling stations. There are plans to extend the use of CNG to other vehicles. Apart from road vehicles, such as cars, buses, taxis and trucks, CNG can also be used by non-road vehicles such as forklifts, street sweepers and airport ground transportation equipment.

SembGas has been conducting tests on the first prototype CNG car in Singapore since October 2001, with a slow fuelling station located within SembGas’ terminal on Jurong Island.

Mr Francis Gomez, Senior Vice President and General Manager of SembGas, said: ""SembGas sees CNG as an economical and environmentally friendly fuel option for all types of vehicles. Using CNG will not only significantly reduce toxic emissions such as greenhouse gases but will also lower fuel costs. With its introduction, we believe that we will see a period of rapid change in the choice of fuel used by vehicles in Singapore. By second quarter 2003, two more fuelling stations, one in Ang Mo Kio and one in Changi will be operational. In addition, we are also assessing the feasibility of an island-wide network of CNG fuelling stations.“

SembGas is a joint venture between SembCorp Utilities (50 per cent), Temasek Holdings (30 per cent) and Tractebel (20 per cent). Singapore’s first importer and retailer of natural gas, SembGas has secured long-term and reliable supplies of natural gas. Natural gas is imported from West Natuna Sea in Indonesia directly to the SembGas receiving terminal on Jurong Island via a 640-kilometre sub-sea pipeline. SembGas currently supplies natural gas to customers on Jurong Island as well as customers in the Tuas and Jurong Industrial areas via a five to seven bar medium pressure reticulation network.

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Ms Ng Lay San
Manager
Group Corporate Relations
SembCorp Industries
Tel: (65) 357 9150
Fax: (65) 352 2163
Email: [email protected]