Singapore’s data centres keep roughly 160 MWh of battery capacity on permanent standby, charged and waiting for a blackout that almost never comes. For an island that imports nearly all its fuel and is scrambling for clean power, that is a lot of expensive hardware doing nothing.
Amplicity, a Singapore-headquartered energy technology startup, wants to change that. The company has closed a US$1.01 million seed round backed by Loyal VC. It says it is in talks with more than 20 prospective customer sites across Asia Pacific and plans to enter Japan in 2027.
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The pitch fits on a napkin: don’t build new batteries, make money from the ones already sitting in the basement.
The idle asset problem
Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems are the insurance policy of the data centre world. When the grid flickers, these batteries keep servers running for the minutes it takes diesel generators to start. The rest of the time, they sit idle.
This is where Amplicitly sees a massive opportunity. Its proprietary technology turns batteries into productive energy assets, from idle backup systems to operational battery energy storage and new installations. This way, data centres, industrial facilities and critical infrastructure operators can reduce electricity costs, generate recurring revenue and decarbonise, while preserving their backup requirements.
Amplicity estimates there is about 160 MWh of such capacity in Singapore’s data centres alone, and roughly 740 MWh across Asia Pacific, before counting factories and industrial sites. The company concedes that not all of it can be used flexibly. Its platform taps only the capacity above each site’s backup reserve. The operator sets the limits, and on-site controllers enforce them even if the internet connection drops.
That last detail is worth noting. The biggest objection from data centre operators, whose contracts are built around near-perfect uptime, is that anyone tinkering with the backup could cause the very outage it exists to prevent.
“The next energy storage opportunity is not just about building more batteries. We need to look at the resources we already have,” said co-founder and CEO Stéphane Leyo.
Where the money comes from
Most of the value, Amplicity says, comes from peak shaving. The batteries discharge during demand spikes, which is when large users pay a premium. Wholesale electricity market revenue is added on top.
The company’s own modelling suggests that a SGD500,000 (about US$388,000) battery at a Singapore data centre could deliver roughly SGD256,000 (US$198,000) in value a year. That is a striking return. On paper, the hardware would pay for itself in under two years. But it is a model, not a track record. Amplicity has not disclosed live deployments, megawatt-hours under management or signed customers. Being “engaged with” 20 sites is a pipeline, not a book of business.
There are technical questions too. UPS batteries were specified to sit fully charged, not to cycle every day. More frequent charging and discharging speeds up wear, and operators will want to know how that affects vendor warranties and replacement schedules. Amplicity’s Battery Value Assessment estimates what a site’s batteries could be worth before the operator commits. It will need to answer the wear question honestly to win over cautious facilities managers.
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Beyond existing backups, Amplicity also optimises operational battery energy storage systems. Where the economics justify it, it installs new ones with financing.
“By combining site-specific optimisation with electricity market opportunities, we can create economic value for businesses while supporting a more flexible energy system,” said co-founder and COO Gabriel Schiano.
Why the timing works
Timing is the startup’s strongest card. Data centres already consume about 7 per cent of Singapore’s electricity. The country has more than 1.6 GW of data centre capacity and plans at least 300 MW more, even as AI workloads push facilities to their power limits. About 95 per cent of its electricity still comes from natural gas, and clean power imports from its neighbours remain years away.
The state is already putting money into grid resilience. Distributed batteries at existing sites could help the grid absorb more intermittent renewables without new infrastructure. Loyal VC founding partner Michael Kosic called it “a capital-light way to support the energy transition.”
Crowded at home, tougher abroad
Amplicity is not alone in eyeing Singapore’s batteries. Blue Whale Energy raised US$2 million last year to build what it calls Singapore’s first battery-based virtual power plant. It deploys its own sodium-ion packs for commercial and industrial customers and holds an Energy Market Authority wholesale electricity licence. That is the opposite philosophy to Amplicity’s: one company owns the hardware, the other works someone else’s harder. The press release does not say whether Amplicity holds its own market licence or works through a partner.
Globally, power management giant Eaton has for years marketed grid-interactive UPS systems that let data centres sell services back to European grids. US-listed Stem uses software to optimise commercial storage fleets.
Amplicity’s edge is its model of working with existing equipment and requiring no new capital spending. That makes it easier to sell, because operators do not need a capital budget approved. The flip side is that the startup depends on clients trusting an outsider with their most mission-critical equipment. Japan, with its entrenched utilities and famously conservative procurement culture, will test that trust harder still.
Pedigree versus proof
Amplicity began at ENGIE Factory, the incubator of French energy group ENGIE, which was later acquired by Pacific Channel. It has been supported by SMU BIG, NUS Deep SAGE and Swinburne University’s Climate 4.0 Hub. It won the Pioneers in Sustainability Award at the France-Singapore Business Awards 2026 and is a finalist at this year’s AustCham Singapore Business Awards.
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Awards and incubator credentials open doors. Megawatt-hours under contract keep them open. Amplicity has a US$1 million cheque in a sector where climate tech capital is pooling in fewer hands, so it has little time to turn spreadsheet returns into batteries that earn.
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