Keppel Ltd. has announced that its Infrastructure Division has entered into a strategic collaboration with the Midea Group, specifically through its Midea Building Technologies Division. The partnership aims to jointly explore AI-enabled, energy-efficient modular cooling solutions across Asia. The agreement was witnessed by Cindy Lim, CEO of Keppel’s Infrastructure Division, and Peter Guan, Vice President of Midea Group and President of MBT. Under this non-exclusive collaboration, both companies will bring together their respective strengths to co-develop standardised modular cooling systems.
Keppel will contribute its expertise in Cooling-as-a-Service (CaaS), digital optimisation, and operational excellence, while MBT will offer its capabilities in HVAC manufacturing, intelligent equipment, and building technologies. Each project that adopts these modular solutions will be implemented through separately negotiated agreements, allowing flexibility based on project requirements.
The approach aims to deliver a capex-light, scalable solution that can be deployed across various sectors. By using modular designs, Keppel will be able to pre-fabricate cooling modules off-site and complete assembly on location, reducing installation complexity and improving deployment speed. Once installed, these modules will be linked to Keppel’s Operations Nerve Centre (ONC), which operates through its proprietary Infrastructure Intelligence (II) digital platform.
This platform uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide real-time monitoring, advanced performance analytics, and continuous remote management. When integrated with MBT’s intelligent equipment, IoT sensors, and smart building systems, the joint solution is expected to increase operational reliability, boost energy efficiency, and lower lifecycle carbon emissions associated with cooling. Together, the companies aim to deliver next-generation cooling technology that supports both sustainability and performance.
As part of their collaboration, Keppel and MBT will also establish an AI-first Centre of Excellence. This centre will function as a shared platform to support engineering work, standardisation of technologies, and replication of solutions across future projects. The target sectors for deployment include data centres, advanced manufacturing facilities, industrial parks, healthcare and education campuses, aviation hubs, integrated developments, and building retrofit projects.
Poh Tiong Keng, Executive Director of Energy-as-a-Service at Keppel, emphasised that this partnership will enhance the company’s ability to roll out advanced cooling solutions across Asia. He highlighted the importance of combining Keppel’s operational capabilities with Midea’s engineering and manufacturing strengths, as seen in the ongoing collaboration on the HDB Tengah Centralised Cooling Systems project in Singapore.
Peter Guan noted that the partnership focuses on applying AI to create sustainable cooling technologies. He explained that by integrating MBT’s equipment-level intelligence with Keppel’s operational platforms, the companies are developing standardised building blocks capable of supporting large-scale decarbonisation efforts. He also pointed to the HDB Tengah project as an early demonstration of their collaborative potential.
Keppel has stated that this agreement is not expected to have a material impact on its earnings per share or net tangible asset per share for the current financial year. However, the collaboration marks an important step toward expanding AI-enabled, energy-efficient cooling solutions that can be applied across Asia’s fast-growing infrastructure landscape.
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