SINGAPORE : The government has set aside S$50 million to fund research and development on clean energy.

The money will be managed by the Clean Energy Programme Office and will be spread over five years.

The office is an inter-agency workgroup responsible for planning and executing strategies to develop Singapore into a global clean energy hub. The objective is to develop and export clean energy products and solutions to the international market.

Singapore is set to pursue the clean energy initiative aggressively, with emphasis on solar energy. This is because the Republic sees clean energy as a key growth industry for the country.

So the S$50m will be used to fund both the industry and research communities. It will allow them to work on research projects that have potential for commercialisation of new processes, technologies or products.

One example could be to develop concrete walls that can generate solar power.

The funding will help reduce project costs like manpower, training and equipment investment.

The public sector can qualify for the entire project cost, but companies in the private sector are only eligible for up to 70 percent of their total cost.

So interested organisations are encouraged to bid competitively for funding. Who would qualify?

According to the Economic Development Board (EDB), the key criteria would be "innovative and novel ideas" on clean energy. The proposed projects must also have the potential to be turned into commercial ventures.

Each year, the Clean Energy Programme Office will issue two calls for proposals on specified research areas.

The first call for proposals on solar energy is scheduled for this Friday.

In future, the focus may turn to wind and hydro-related systems and fuel cells.

So the new S$50m fund is clearly another push to boost the research community in the clean energy industry.

This announcement comes just days after Norway-based Renewable Energy Corporation said it will build a plant in Singapore.

The facility will be ready by 2010 and will be the largest solar manufacturing plant in the world. It will produce solar products that could power several million homes every year.

All these fall nicely into Singapore's plan to become a centre for the development of clean energy sources.

The Clean Energy Programme Office expects the industry to contribute S$1.7 billion to Singapore's GDP. Some 7,000 jobs are also expected to be created by 2015. - CNA/ch