GRANTS FOR SMES TO GO GREEN

GRANTS FOR SMES TO GO GREEN

3.

Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) what measures and grants are available to SMEs to go green; and (b) what has been the response from SMEs.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: National Environment Agency (NEA) and Public Utilities Board (PUB) provide a range of incentives to support companies' efforts to go green. These incentives are open to SMEs as well as larger companies.

NEA offers various schemes to help companies to reduce their energy consumption, to recycle or minimise waste as well as to develop and test environmental technologies and solutions. These include:

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(a) Energy Efficiency Improvement Assistance Scheme (EASe)

Co-funds up to 50% of the cost of companies' energy audits, which help to identify potential areas for energy efficiency improvements.

(b) Grant for Energy Efficient Technologies (GREET)

Co-funds up to 50% of the investment cost of energy-efficient technologies or equipment, with a cap of $2 million per project.

(c) Singapore Certified Energy Manager (SCEM) Training Grant

Covers over 80% of the SCEM programme course fees for companies to send their staff for energy management training.

(d) 3R Fund

Co-funds waste minimisation and recycling projects up to 80% of the qualifying costs, subject to a cap of $1 million per project.

(e) Innovation for Environmental Sustainability (IES) Fund

Co-funds applied research and test-bedding of environmental products and services.

PUB encourages greater water efficiency through the Water Efficiency Fund (WEF), which co-funds projects that yield at least 10% savings in a company's water consumption. SMEs enjoy a higher co-funding of 80% of project costs, compared to the usual 50%. PUB also provides constant flow regulators and spray nozzles to SMEs to help them to reduce their water consumption.

Some of the schemes mentioned above have seen healthy take up by SMEs. For example, 139 applications for the IES Fund have been approved as at the end of last year, and 59 of these were from SMEs. PUB has also installed flow control devices in 3,880 SMEs. For the other schemes where SMEs take up has been low, we encourage SMEs to take advantage of the funding support available to improve their resource efficiency and reduce costs. NEA and PUB will continue to monitor these schemes and regularly review how they can be improved to better meet the needs of companies.

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