Can you introduce EMA to our international audience?

The Energy Market Authority’s (EMA) main goals are to ensure a reliable and secure energy supply, promote effective competition in the energy market and develop a dynamic energy sector in Singapore. Through our work, we seek to forge a progressive energy landscape for sustained growth, and to keep the lights on and gas flowing for Singapore.

Could you give us an overview of Singapore’s energy scene in terms of supply and demand?

Singapore’s electricity demand was about 50 terawatt-hour (TWh) in 2020, and is forecasted to grow by 2.8% to 3.2% per annum in the next decade. This is driven by increasing digitalisation and electrification, and new and emerging electricity-intensive sectors such as data centres, electric vehicles and agri-tech. Today, natural gas is used to generate around 95% of Singapore’s electricity supply. In 2019, EMA announced the Singapore Energy Story and the four supply switches – natural gas, solar, regional power grids and low-carbon alternatives – to transform our energy supply.

How important are renewables in the current Singapore energy market and what initiatives are driven towards a cleaner energy supply?

Singapore’s power sector contributes to about 40% of Singapore’s carbon emissions. To meet Singapore’s climate ambition of achieving net-zero emissions by or around the mid-century, there is a need to transform the way we produce and consume energy. Hence, we need to move towards cleaner sources of energy supply. Singapore’s energy transition is not without challenges. Many of the renewable energy options adopted by other countries are not available to us. We have little wind, hydro, or tidal power. Despite these limitations and complexities, there are various initiatives to reduce the power sector’s carbon footprint. For example, we have awarded US$37 million in grants to enhance the energy efficiency of power generation plants to reduce carbon emissions. To overcome our land constraints, we have taken an innovative approach of deploying solar photovoltaic systems on spaces such as water bodies, temporary vacant land or sheltered pedestrian walkways. To manage the intermittent nature of solar energy and ensure grid resilience, we are also planning to deploy at least 200 megawatts of energy storage systems beyond 2025.

EMA has also issued the first request for a proposal to import electricity in the coming years, what drives this increased demand or are there any other factors at play?

With limited renewable energy sources domestically, EMA has also announced its target to import up to 4 gigawatts of low-carbon electricity by 2035 and issued the first request-for-proposal last year. We have also taken active steps to explore the viability of low-carbon technologies by investing in the research of hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) through the US$55 million Low-Carbon Energy Research Funding Initiative, and are assessing the potential of geothermal energy for power generation in Singapore.

How is the increase in crude oil and natural gas prices impacting the affordability of electricity for businesses?

While we cannot shield consumers from higher electricity prices, it is vital that global volatility does not disrupt our electricity supply and impair the functioning of our energy market. Since October 2021, EMA has put in place a set of measures to secure Singapore’s energy supply. This includes establishing a Standby Liquefied Natural Gas Facility which power generation companies (gencos) can draw from to generate electricity when their natural gas supplies are disrupted. Since January 2022, EMA has also worked with electricity retailers and gencos to help large consumers secure fixed price plans and retail contracts with a significant fixed price component through the Temporary Electricity Contracting Support Scheme. To encourage business consumers to optimise their energy use during periods of tight market conditions, EMA has in place several demand-side management (DSM) programs, such as the Demand Response (DR) and Interruptible Load (IL) programs. These programs incentivise businesses to optimise their energy consumption by managing their electricity demand. The benefits of DR are two-fold. First, businesses get paid for adjusting the amount of electricity they use during periods of high demand. Second, the energy system can benefit from the shifting of energy consumption from peak to non-peak hours. For IL, businesses get paid to be on standby and commit to reducing their electricity demand in the event that the system requires additional reserves. This results in a more stable and resilient power system that leverages available decentralised resources.