Eaton announced the launch of new power management solutions to support Asia Pacific's (APAC)'s green energy transition. This includes a suite of electric vehicle charging infrastructure (EVCI) solutions as well as its xStorage range of battery energy storage systems (BESS) designed for APAC's unique business and operational environment. With the electrification of the economy, and the emergence of new opportunities for businesses and consumers to produce their own energy and export it back to the grid, energy will flow through the grid in more directions and through more devices than before.

As part of its broader energy transition mission, Eaton has also entered into a new partnership under Singapore's Sustainable Tropical Data Centre Testbed (STDCT), to drive the development of innovative and sustainable solutions for data centers in the tropics. Through the company's Everything as a Grid approach to the energy transition, different stakeholders are able to play a role in generating, balancing, storing and distributing electricity – which are historically done by utilities. These include residential, commercial and industrial (C&I) properties, such as data centers, factories and electric vehicle (EV) transport operators.

Helping buildings and EV fleet operators meet growing demand for cleaner energy vehicles. Fueled by maturing sustainable development policies and government incentives, EV ownership has become more prevalent in recent years. Policymakers worldwide are recognizing the importance of having reliable and accessible EV charging infrastructure in place to support growing EV adoption.

Within APAC, countries have stepped up their carbon emission commitments by pushing forward with sustainable transportation and mobility policies. In Malaysia, incentives to support the local EV industry were announced at Budget 2022, including tax income exemption for installing and renting EV charging facilities. Elsewhere in the region, the Singapore government proposed to introduce a law which will require new buildings with car parks to be developed with sufficient passive provision to support EV charging points for 15% of total parking spaces.

To help building owners and developers prepare for emerging regulations and future demand, the company has introduced its comprehensive suite of EVCI power management and digital management solutions in APAC. Building upon existing technology and insights garnered from the company's experience in Europe and America, and tailored to meet the unique needs and opportunities within APAC, this latest suite of EVCI solutions helps building managers and EV fleet operators seamlessly and flexibly operate EV infrastructures. Examples include: AC (alternating current),DC (direct current) and prefabricated EV charging station solutions; Cloud-based EV charging software to help charging operators optimize costs, manage their earnings and have full control of the entire charging network.

Transforming buildings into energy hubs: Beyond EV charging applications, businesses – especially large power consumers such as manufacturing, commercial and industrial facilities – are embracing the adoption of onsite renewable energy sources in order to reduce their carbon footprint. However, concerns over costs may remain. BESSs address this by allowing users to optimize energy costs through peak shaving and participation in demand response programs, such as in Singapore.

This helps organizations make a stronger business case to their stakeholders when considering on-site renewables generation and EV charging capabilities. Collaborating to low-carbon solutions for the data center industry: The introduction of the company's EVCI and xStorage BESS solution comes on the back of the company's investment in low-carbon research and development for the data center industry. In June this year, Eaton joined Singapore's STDCT project as a consortium member.

Unveiled in June 2021, STDCT is the world's first data center testbed in the tropics. Through this project, researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University Singapore aim to develop innovative and sustainable cooling solutions for data centers operating in environments with high-temperature and humidity. As part of this collaboration, the company will be providing data center power management solutions such as UPS, lithium-ion batteries and busway systems amounting to approximately SGD 300,000 to the STDCT.

These solutions, which are designed to perform in tropical environments without additional cooling interventions, will be used to support the provision of back-up power for STDCT's experiment labs. Powering a more resilient, sustainable future: By helping businesses implement renewable power and storage strategies, Eaton is helping to make clean energy available whenever and wherever it is needed — be it now or in the future. The company's full range of micro grid and distributed energy resources capabilities offer customers reliable, scalable and efficient solutions for unexpected power loss, and help organizations reduce dependence on local grids.

An example is the deployment of a solar- and storage-based micro grid at Eaton's Arecibo manufacturing site, which has reduced the facility's environmental impact and continues to support energy resilience for one of Puerto Rico's largest employers. Amidst the rising threat of cyber attacks, Eaton's "secure-by-design" philosophy, processes and secure development lifecycle are integrated into product development. Through partnerships with industry stakeholders, Eaton is leveraging and augmenting its expertise in power management to advance the transition towards a greener future.

Aside from its participation in the STDCT project, Eaton actively collaborates with organizations across the value chain. This includes: TES, a provider of sustainable technology lifecycle; services - enabling customers to recycle lithium-ion batteries in Eaton's UPS products; Microsoft - to turn Eaton's UPS into a value-generating, grid-interactive asset, also known as EnergyAware UPS.