Pandemic spurs companies to invest in power management

One out of three Singaporean companies increased their investments in power management in 2020.

More businesses are starting to recognize the importance of shifting to renewable sources of energy, according to the latest Eaton study.

In its recent whitepaper, The Future of Power Management in Asia-Pacific, Eaton found that at least 33% of Singaporean companies have increased their investments in power management since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Organizations in Singapore have shown resilience and adaptability despite the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Their willingness to adopt new solutions and work with the government to meet sustainability targets will boost their global competitiveness amidst the transition towards a cleaner, energy-efficient future," said Richard Farrell, Asia-Pacific Director - Digitalization, Cloud and Data Center Segment at Eaton.

Approximately 80% of companies are looking into adopting new solutions to improve power management in the next three years. Some 63% are exploring the use of intelligent power management softwares, 54% are looking into energy storage to manage reneqable energy, and 46% are exploring containerized modular solutions to cater to data centers.

Three in five companies are planning to increase their use of renewable energy. Eaton added that this is likely to grow as the government continues to push for the Singapore Green Plan 2030. Thus, 53% of businesses are planning to explore alternative energy sources in the next three years.

Eneergy costs and optimization was cited as the major bottleneck in this endeavor, at 87%, followed by eliminating downtime at 70%.

Of the 30 respondents surveyed between December 2020 to January 2021, 57% also cited changing government and industry regulations as a challenge to their sustainability plans.