Shell helps cities navigate energy transition with global City Solutions Living Lab

Singapore - Shell launches its first global City Solutions Living Lab in Singapore to help cities around the world navigate their energy transition towards a lower carbon future.

Working closely with city stakeholders such as government, private sector and local communities, the Shell City Solutions Living Lab will innovate new concepts, advanced technologies and commercially viable business models to improve the way resources and energy are used.

The City Solutions Living Lab was launched at the Shell Powering Progress Together (PPT) Forum, attended by Guest-of-Honour, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean.

The challenge of urban growth requires unprecedented collaboration

By 2050, the world’s population could grow by 2 billion people to 9.7 billion, and around 70% are expected to live in cities. As cities expand, pressure on vital resources of energy and water are expected to increase.

Executive Vice President of Shell New Energies, Mark Gainsborough, said, “To ensure sustainable growth, Shell recognises the need for a change in the way cities produce and use energy. Only through strong collaboration between policymakers, industry, and consumers can urbanisation be shaped in ways that will enhance the quality of life in future cities.”

Shell’s “Living Lab” approach – innovating in actual living environments

The new Shell City Solutions Living Lab will have a dedicated team with multi-disciplinary expertise that focuses on helping cities move people and goods with lower emissions, switch to cleaner energy options and embed sustainable features in built environments. It will adopt a user-centric approach of co-creating and experimenting with city stakeholders innovative concepts, scenarios, technologies and business models in actual living environments.

General Manager of Shell City Solutions, Emily Tan, said, “When collaborating with cities, we take a holistic view of their unique needs. The City Solutions Living Lab will originate opportunities with city stakeholders through co-visioning workshops that identify pathways towards a lower carbon future. We then innovate a suite of solutions with commercially viable business models that help meet the city’s carbon reduction goals. Our team will bring in various Shell expertise available globally for seamless implementation and deployment. We can also offer unique access to an extensive network of technology partners, suppliers and contractors.”

Clean energy case studies in Singapore and the region

Shell chose to base its first City Solutions Living Lab in Singapore due to the city-state’s active push for energy transition and sustainability, its pro-business environment and Shell’s presence in Singapore.

“Shell and Singapore have had a long history of working together, in building businesses that create sustained and meaningful value. Not only are our assets in Singapore being used as live test beds to pilot new technologies, the larger Singapore ecosystem also enables Shell to push innovative thinking even further. Energy solutions that we develop successfully here can potentially be replicated in cities around the world,” said Aw Kah Peng, Chairman, Shell Companies in Singapore.

“I am delighted that Shell has chosen Singapore to be the location for its first City Solutions Living Lab. Shell’s decision to develop new energy solutions in Singapore is in line with our focus on energy sustainability and reducing carbon emissions. We intend to work with Shell, and other like-minded companies, to address the needs of countries in the region and beyond in their transition to become low carbon economies,” said Dr Beh Swan Gin, Chairman, Singapore Economic Development Board.

To date, Shell has worked with city officials, think-tanks, private industry players and community leaders in cities such as Singapore, Chennai (India) and Perth (Australia). With the launch of the Living Lab, Shell can now offer its collaboration architecture to more cities.

In Singapore, Shell City Solutions has worked with PSA Singapore to understand the energy needs of the Pasir Panjang Terminal and the future Tuas Port. Together, Shell and PSA identified opportunities for carbon reduction such as switching to cleaner fuel options and the study of a near net-zero energy building.

Shell has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Energy Market Authority of Singapore (EMA) to jointly work on spurring the adoption of energy storage systems (ESS). This will be achieved through piloting use cases and designing effective business models. Increased ESS adoption will support the deployment of more solar photovoltaic in Singapore.

Shell Powering Progress Together Forum

Powering Progress Together (PPT) is a series of conferences that aim to spark new thinking and provide a forum for discussion and action on a range of energy challenges. Since 2012, the programme has brought together some of the world’s leading thinkers from business, government and civil society.

This year, themed “Co-creating City+”, PPT 2019 explored how different players can come together to co-create, collaborate and re-imagine the future of cities, to build what Shell terms as ‘City+’. Participants and delegates contributed their views on what City+ looks like, how people and goods will move about in City+ and how it will be powered.

Sitting on this year’s panel on the topic “Sustainable Cities: Future-Ready vs Today’s Needs” included business and government leaders such as:

• Dr Cheong Koon Hean, CEO, Housing & Development Board (HDB)
• Ong Kim Pong, Regional CEO, Southeast Asia, PSA Singapore
• Sunny Verghese, Chair, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
• Brian Davis, Vice President, Energy Solutions, Shell

Students imagine the future of Asian and Middle Eastern cities

Beyond these efforts, Shell also engages youths through its Imagine the Future Scenarios Competition, which is part of the highlights at PPT, to discuss the energy possibilities of tomorrow in Asian and Middle Eastern cities.

This year, a total of 237 university students and more than 40 teams from across Singapore, China (new country), Thailand and Egypt took part in the competition. The winning national teams from each country shared their contrasting visions of future Asian and Middle Eastern cities by 2050 at this year’s PPT Forum, and first place went to the University of Science and Technology in Zewail City, Egypt.

Please refer to Annex A for more info on this year’s Imagine the Future Scenarios Competition.

Notes to Editors:

• To read more about Shell Powering Progress Together, see link: https://www.shell.com/about-us/events/powering-progress-together.html 
• To read more about Imagine the Future Scenarios Competition

About Powering Progress Together

The sixth Asian edition of the Shell Powering Progress Together Forum was held on July 4, 2019. The forum will bring together about 150 leaders, young talents and representatives from business, government and society to discuss, debate and catalyse cross-border collaborations to tackle future energy challenges. The theme for Powering Progress Together 2019 is “Co-creating City+” and it will be an immersive and open dialogue centred on how different players can come together to co-create, collaborate and re-imagine the future of cities, to build what we call ‘City+’. Since the first forum in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 2012, Shell Powering Progress Together has evolved into a cross-market series of connected events that foster dialogues to help address future energy challenges.

About Shell New Energies

Shell established its New Energies division in 2016. Shell New Energies focuses on two main areas: new fuels for transport, such as advanced biofuels and hydrogen; and power, being involved at almost every stage of the process, from generating electricity, to buying and selling it, to supplying it directly to customers. Shell aims to make electricity a significant part of its business. Shell’s New Energies business is seeking to leverage the company’s strengths in fast-growing and commercial parts of the energy industry and plans to spend on average between $1-2 billion a year up to 2020 on commercial opportunities. Shell City Solutions is part of Shell New Energies. For more information, go to www.shell.com/newenergies

About Shell Singapore

As one of the world’s leading energy companies, Shell plays a key role in meeting the world’s growing energy demand in economically, environmentally and socially responsible ways. In Singapore, Shell employs more than 3,100 people and is one of the country’s largest foreign investors. Shell has been in Singapore since 1891 and has businesses including trading and marketing of liquefied natural gas; manufacturing, trading, marketing and shipping of oil products and chemicals; and development of renewable energy solutions. For more information, visit www.shell.com.sg.

Media Enquiries:
Hsu Lin
Ninemer Public Relations P L
hsulin@ninemer.com

Vanessa Ho
Ninemer Public Relations P L
vanessaho@ninemer.com

Cautionary note

The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this announcement “Shell”, “Shell group” and “Royal Dutch Shell” are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. ‘‘Subsidiaries’’, “Shell subsidiaries” and “Shell companies” as used in this announcement refer to companies over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to as “joint ventures” and “joint operations” respectively. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as “associates”. The term “Shell interest” is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management’s expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ‘‘anticipate’’, ‘‘believe’’, ‘‘could’’, ‘‘estimate’’, ‘‘expect’’, ‘‘goals’’, ‘‘intend’’, ‘‘may’’, ‘‘objectives’’, ‘‘outlook’’, ‘‘plan’’, ‘‘probably’’, ‘‘project’’, ‘‘risks’’, “schedule”, ‘‘seek’’, ‘‘should’’, ‘‘target’’, ‘‘will’’ and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this announcement, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell’s products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading conditions. There can be no assurance that future dividend payments will match or exceed previous dividend payments. All forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this announcement. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell’s 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2016 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward looking statements contained in this announcement and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this announcement, March 8, 2018. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement.

We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this announcement that United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov