Fuelling Fresh Starts at SLNG: From Hot Plants to Cold Energy (with a Side of SPF)

Lim Shen Wen, Analyst (New Energy)

If you ask Lim Shen Wen (Shen) what gets him through the day, he won't mention coffee. Or even the exciting projects he's working on at SLNG. He'll tell you it's a good sweat.

"Going for weekly runs with the informal “SLNG Running Club” is something I look forward to, especially after a long day" he says. "Getting a good sweat in helps me clear my head and recharges me." He adds, “I also try to stay active by hitting the gym regularly. It’s a way for me to decompress, stay grounded, and keep both my body and mind in check.” 

Shen (far left) participating in the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge with some SLNG staff

The discipline to stay active, the passion to keep moving (running) forward and understanding the importance of maintaining balance, has helped Shen navigate his career. Today, he's an Analyst (New Energy) with SLNG's LNG Market & Business Solutions (LMBS) team, where he explores ways to use LNG more sustainably and helps get SLNG ready to adopt future low-carbon fuels like bio-LNG and ammonia.

But Shen didn't start in new energy. Or even in Singapore.

Hard Hats, Houston Grit, and New Horizons
Shen’s energy journey began on the other side of the world, in Houston, Texas, the “Energy Capital of the World.” After earning his degree in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia, he started his career as a Process Engineer in a Houston-based petrochemical plant.

Shen started his career in a Houston-based petrochemical plant in the United States

At the facility, he supported day-to-day operations across production, projects, and environmental compliance. Decked out in personal protective equipment and working daily onsite, it was a "classic chemical engineering kind of role", he says. "Everything I saw in school, I was seeing in a real-life refining plant; and it was nice seeing what I learnt in school being directly applied in the real world."

The work was intense and hands-on. However, Shen’s time in the U.S., which started from his university days, shaped more than just his technical foundations. He credits that period with broadening his worldview. "I met people from all walks of life, and those interactions challenged me to think more openly and empathetically. Having the opportunity to work in probably the biggest energy market in the world, is something I will always be grateful for."  

But after a few solid years in the refining field, Shen was ready to zoom out. In 2022, he took a short career break to travel across the U.S. before returning to Singapore with a fresh perspective and an eye on something new.

SLNG became the next stop. First, in the Technical & Project Development team, where he worked primarily on LNG-related infrastructure project development. Then he was presented with the prospect of a different challenge. "Joining SLNG marked the start of a new chapter. Later, when the opportunity came up to support SLNG’s growing focus on clean energy, that was something I couldn't pass up," he says. So, he made the transition to focus on the cleaner energy future he wanted to help build.

Shen (far right) participating in SLNG Safety Day in 2024

Changing Lenses
The transition wasn't a small one. Shen went from reviewing engineering schematics to poring over commercial contracts, trying to understand the building blocks of financial models, commercial terms and legal documents. "As an engineer, the focus is on following established processes and ensuring technical precision, where you tend to do things step-by-step, going from A to B to C to D… Whereas in the commercial world, the focus is more on the outcome. You are dealing with broader business concerns, weighing risks, returns, and timelines all at once; and the steps taken to achieve the desired outcome is usually not fixed," he shares.

One of the biggest challenges? Drafting legal contracts from scratch. "That was something I've never done before. It didn't come to me naturally. But I had supportive bosses, (and) we had a good legal team to help me understand the fine prints in the commercial contracts."

It also helped that, in his role, Shen has access to consultants and experts from various related fields; and each one would bring something different to the table. "Is the project bankable? What would make it attractive to banks or investors? Such questions, and their answers, offered me different perspectives and helped me to think in ways that I would not have thought to do."

Still, he wasn’t completely lost or helpless. His technical background proved invaluable. "Understanding the technical intricacies allowed me to better understand the customer's needs, and what would be required, technically, to meet those needs."

Cold Energy, Warm Purpose
One of the projects that excites Shen most is also one of the coolest. Literally.

"Right now in the terminal, there is a lot of cold energy released during the regasification process. We’re looking to harness this cold energy to support a wide range of uses such as data centre cooling and carbon capture & storage," he shares.

It's a win-win: reducing waste, cutting emissions, and supporting Singapore's wider decarbonisation goals.

His team is also exploring other more sustainable energy sources such as bio-LNG, which is a renewable fuel produced from organic materials like agricultural waste, manure, and sewage. "We are in the process of getting the SLNG Terminal certified to bring in bio-LNG. Bio-LNG can potentially be used for power generation or bunkering."

Shen and his business group at a team bonding activity

Going the Distance
Not one to just float with the current, Shen is looking to dive even deeper.

"Being in a techno-commercial kind of role, evaluating both technical and commercial feasibilities of new energy infrastructure projects is something that I want to focus on moving forward."

Like his weekly runs, it's less about speed and more about staying the course. Measured steps. Long-haul thinking. And a quiet focus on going further, not just faster.