Beneath Singapore's Marina Bay district hides a cool secret

Singapore's Marina Bay district is home to an iconic skyline that never fails to awe visiting tourists with its grandeur, but do you know that it hides a 'cool' secret?

Lying 25m underneath the iconic Marina Bay Sands and ArtScience Museum is the largest underground district cooling network in the world, the Marina Bay District Cooling plant, which is responsible for keeping the whole Marina Bay district cool.

A video released by Temasek Holdings on Saturday (May 6) provided a peek into the plant, which operates a district cooling system in contrast to traditional air-conditioning systems.

Thanks to this underground system, there is no need for overhead cooling towers. Rooftop space is freed up for other amenities, such as the Marina Bay Sands infinity pool, which is also the world's largest rooftop infinity pool. 

And here we thought we knew all there was to know about Marina Bay.

Currently used for commercial buildings, district cooling systems produce and distribute chilled water from a central plant to a network of buildings, and simultaneously receive used water to be chilled again. This allows for a drastic reduction of energy costs and carbon emission levels.

Indeed, as French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery famously wrote, "What is essential is invisible to the eye."

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pariel@sph.com.sg