SINGAPORE: Singapore will build its largest underground substation yet, with the capacity to power more than two public housing towns when completed by 2025. Building the substation underground will free up three hectares – or more than three football fields of space – of land.
SP Group will construct the 230kV underground substation, which will have a commercial development sitting on top of it, on the site of the former Pasir Panjang Power District, said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong on Wednesday (May 30), at the launch of an exhibition showcasing Singapore’s underground projects.
“We are drawing up plans to rejuvenate the area, and this additional space means that there will be more to look forward to,” Mr Wong said. “This is for just one underground substation and we are saving 3ha of land. Imagine the potential if we were to do many of such projects underground all over Singapore.”
Going underground will free up surface land. (Graphic: URA)
The new development will sit on the same compound as the Pasir Panjang Power Station, which was decommissioned in 1987.
NO PLANS TO HOUSE RESIDENTIAL SPACES UNDERGROUND
A 3D Underground Master Plan is also being developed by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and will be unveiled for selected pilot areas by 2019.
The master plan will allow the authorities to plan for both “aboveground and underground possibilities, to ensure that they are compatible and seamless”.
“The map will show what is already there in the ground, what we plan to build in the future, and the regulations and requirements for industry,” said Mr Wong. “All this can be updated whenever things change on the ground.”
He also added that the Government has no plans to build homes underground.
“Some people have asked if we are planning to locate homes underground. Let me assure everyone that we are not intending to put residential spaces underground,” said Mr Wong.
Instead, the master plan’s priority will be to locate supporting infrastructure underground, such as utilities, storage facilities and transport infrastructure. The Government is also “actively looking” to have common services tunnels in growth areas such as the Jurong Lake District, Mr Wong said.
The cross section of a Common Services Tunnel. (Photo: URA)
CENTRALISED PLATFORM FOR UNDERGROUND PLANNING
To provide more accurate data to facilitate underground development, a centralised platform collating different types of information for underground planning will also be made available.
Industry players will be able to purchase them from the Singapore Land Authority’s Integrated Land Information Service, which will serve as a one-stop portal for all utility plans.
Geological information collected from government projects will also be shared on the platform from July this year.
