Enhancing Singapore’s Connectivity; Securing Our Future

(A) Tuas Port – A Smarter and Greener Port

Background:

• The development of Tuas Port will be in four phases. When fully completed in the 2040s, Tuas Port will have a handling capacity of 65 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), almost double the volume of 37.5mil TEUs handled in 2021. For comparison, Pasir Panjang Terminal has 37 berths with a handling capacity of 34 million TEUs annually.

• Tuas Port will occupy about 1,337ha of land (approx. 3,300 football fields) when completed. There will be 66 berths spanning 26km capable of handling the largest container ships.

• Tuas Port, together with Singapore’s International Maritime Centre, will form a strong value proposition and ensure Maritime Singapore remains trusted, resilient, and ready for the future.

Reclamation works

• The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) commenced reclamation works for Tuas Port Phase 1 in February 2015 and completed it in November 2021. The reclamation works involved a total of 34 million man-hours, with the support of over 450 companies, on:

  • Soil improvement works for 414 hectares of land, including 294 hectares measuring 412 football fields of newly reclaimed land;

  • Fabrication and installation of 221 10-storey tall caissons (structures used to line the walls of the quay) each weighing 15,000 tons to form 8.6km of seawall; and

  • Deepening of seabeds to cater for larger ships of the future.

• Tuas Port Phase 2’s reclamation works commenced in March 2018. MPA had completed all caisson fabrications in April 2022.

  • 227 10-storey tall caissons had been used to form 9.1km of seawall for Phase 2.

• MPA has also commenced the planning for Tuas Port Phase 3.

Port operations

• Port operations at Tuas Port Phase 1 will have 21 deep-water berths that can handle 20 million TEUs annually when fully operationalised in 2027.

  • The first two berths in Tuas Port Phase 1 started operations in Dec 2021 on schedule, and three more berths will start operations by Dec 2022.

  • Our container port operator, PSA, is expecting to move over all their operations at Tanjong Pagar¹, Keppel, and Brani Terminals to Tuas Port by 2027. Operations at Pasir Panjang Terminal will be consolidated at Tuas Port by 2040s.

Port-Industry Ecosystem

• Tuas Port will be the nexus of a well-integrated Tuas ecosystem, covering the vibrant business and industrial districts in the Western region, such as the Jurong Lake District, the Jurong Innovation District, and the Tuas Industrial District. By co-locating complementary sectors that have high levels of interactions with the port, related industries can tap on Tuas Port’s global connectivity with greater ease and convenience, unlocking supply chain synergies and generating more efficient trade flows.

Paving the way in digitalisation and sustainability

• Tuas Port will be an automated, intelligent, and sustainable port.

Deploying AI and automation in port operations

• MPA is working with port operators to drive the adoption of digital technologies at the Port of Singapore. For example, MPA is developing the Next Generation Vessel Traffic Management System² to provide accurate, real-time situational awareness of the shipping traffic, and the digitalPORT@SG^TM, to enhance efficiency of port operations and reduce the turnaround time of ships³.

• Within Tuas Port, versatile and manoeuvrable electrified automated yard cranes, and automated guided vehicles (AGVs)⁴ will be used for the transport of containers between the yard and the wharf. These port operations will be managed remotely from the Tuas Port Control Centre, freeing up resources while improving port productivity and creating more higher value and good jobs for Singaporeans.

• PSA is working closely with technology partners to co-develop advanced automation and digitalisation solutions across multiple avenues, including cranes and AGVs, with scalable designs for future growth and expansion, as operations in Tuas Port gradually scales up.

• PSA will also deploy a private 5G network to support 5G-enabled AGVs and Automated Cranes at Tuas Port and the current Pasir Panjang Terminal. In addition, PSA is exploring the future use of 5G in PSA Smart Grid5 and cargo handling operations.

Reducing emissions

• PSA aims for Tuas Port to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

• Besides electrified equipment and vehicles such as AGVs which reduces carbon emission by about 50% compared to current diesel prime movers, PSA will also use a smart grid management system and construct green buildings. For example, the Tuas Maintenance Base Administrative Building, a Green Mark Platinum Super Low Energy Building certified by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and Tuas Port’s first super low-energy building, uses 58% less energy compared to other similar-sized buildings and is a net-zero development as it generates enough solar energy to offset its electricity consumption.

Key Milestones:

(B) Changi Airport Terminal 5 – A Resilient and Sustainable Airport

Background:

• First announced in 2013, Changi Airport’s Terminal 5 (T5) is a project undertaken by the Ministry of Transport (MOT), the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and Changi Airport Group (CAG).

• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the T5 project was paused for two years. During this time, MOT, CAAS and CAG re-assessed the trajectory of aviation growth, and reviewed T5’s design to make it more modular, and to enhance its resilience and sustainability.

• Following Singapore’s reopening, air travel demand has recovered strongly at Changi Airport. Beyond the immediate recovery, the long-term prospects for aviation also remain bright. In particular, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has projected that the Asia-Pacific would be the fastest-growing region for air travel over the next two decades.

• To secure Singapore’s capacity to ride on the long-term growth of aviation, work on the T5 project has resumed. CAG is re-mobilising the design and engineering consultants to refine the T5 design. Construction is expected to commence in about two years, for T5 to be operational around the mid-2030s.

• T5 will be located within the 1,080-hectare Changi East development that is almost as big as the land area of today’s Changi Airport. It will be able to handle about 50 million passengers per year, and will be designed with the flexibility to be built in two phases, in line with traffic growth.

• This additional capacity from T5 will strengthen Singapore’s position as a premier air hub for the region and beyond, and will ensure that future generations of Singaporeans can continue to benefit from our global connectivity.

Features:

A resilient airport that can handle future pandemics more nimbly

• Drawing on lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic, T5 will be designed with the flexibility to operate as smaller sub-terminals when needed, with space that could be converted for use during contingencies, such as for testing operations or the segregation of high-risk passengers.

• Specialised provisions to reduce the transmission of diseases will also be deployed in T5. This includes contactless systems at passenger touchpoints, as well as enhanced ventilation systems that can be activated during a pandemic to increase the use of fresh air and minimise the mixing of air.

A green and sustainable terminal building

• T5 will be a Green Mark Platinum Super Low Energy Building as certified by the BCA.

• To reduce the carbon footprint of T5, solar panels, smart building management systems, as well as district cooling combined with thermal energy storage, will be deployed in the terminal building.

• T5 will also be ready for viable alternative fuels including the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), and for the provision of fixed ground power and cooling for aircraft parked at the gates.

Designed for the deployment of automation at scale

• T5 will leverage technology to automate and digitalise airport operations, to enhance the passenger experience and increase manpower productivity. For example, T5 could see the deployment of autonomous vehicles to support baggage and cargo transport on the airside, as well as robotics for baggage handling. The terminal will be designed to accommodate and facilitate deployment of such technology at scale.

• These efforts will provide our local enterprises with an opportunity to build capabilities in new, emerging areas such as robotics and artificial intelligence, and ultimately create quality jobs for Singaporeans within the airport ecosystem.

A place connecting all Singaporeans

• T5 will reinforce Changi Airport as a national icon, and ensure that it will continue to be a place of shared experiences across generations of Singaporeans, where we welcome and send off loved ones, and forge precious memories with friends and family.

• T5 will be well-connected to the rest of Singapore, with a dedicated ground transportation centre where passengers can access rail, bus and other point-to-point transport services.

• Located at the doorstep of T5, the Changi East Urban District (CEUD) will create new spaces for Singaporeans to connect, work and play. Master-planning for the development of the CEUD will be done in consultation with the Ministry of National Development (MND), the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and other agencies.

Timeline:

¹ Container operations have already been decanted from Tanjong Pagar Terminal.

² The Next Generation Vessel Traffic Management Systems will replace the current Vessel Traffic Information System. It will use data analytics and machine learning to identify traffic hotspots as well as advance algorithms to predict potential collusion situations, to provide MPA and vessel masters with more accurate and timely information to react to and avert incidents. It will also enhance ship-shore digital information exchange and leverage potential communication technologies to provide reliable and secured means of communications between ship-ship and ship-shore.

³ MPA launched phase 1 of digitalPORT@SG^TM in 2019, which served as a one-stop port clearance portal for regulatory applications for ships calling at the Port of Singapore. In phase 2 of the development of digitalPORT@SG^TM, MPA will work with the terminal operators and marine service providers to integrate it with commercial platforms, including PSA’s Portnet and Jurong Port’s JP Online, and will include a one-stop platform for the booking of marine services and Just-In-Time service for all arriving ships. Refer to go.gov.sg/mpa-digitalport-sg for more information.

⁴ The AGVs are bi-directional and are equipped with many different sensors, including obstacle detection sensors.

⁵ A smart grid provides real-time information on how electricity is used. The Smart Grid Management System will enable the energy consumption within PSA terminals to be better managed, balancing peak and trough demand and reducing the risk of power-related disruptions, optimising energy use in port operations.