Chronology of RE news in Singapore

There has been a flurry of renewable energy news happening in the region, where it would affect the import of renewable energy into Singapore. Let me break it down to you from a timeline perspective.

2021: YTL PowerSeraya Pte Ltd as the Importer for the 100 MW electricity imports trial from Peninsular Malaysia starting 2023.( See link https://www.ema.gov.sg/rfp-electricity-importer-2021).

2021: PacificLight Power Pte Ltd (“PLP”), a, working with a consortium comprising Medco Power Indonesia, and Gallant Venture Ltd, , was granted in-principle approval by the Energy Market Authority (“EMA”) for a 100MW pilot solar import project from Indonesia to Singapore. The project is expected to have an installed generation capacity of 670MWp in the initial phase, which will provide 100MW equivalent of non-intermittent electricity, which is scheduled for commissioning in 2024. ( See link https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/energy-commodities/singapore-grants-principle-approval-import-100-mw-solar-power)

23 October 2021: Malaysia announced that they will only allow non-renewable energy exports to Singapore. (See link https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysias-energy-ministry-to-limit-renewable-energy-exports-to-singapore)

May 2022: Indonesia announced that they will not be exporting renewable energy. During SIEW in 2022, the Indonesia ministry did not explicitly mention that the ban on renewable energy was lifted, but spoke more on developing the proper regulations.

23 June 2022 Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project (LTMS-PIP), which imports up to 100 megawatts (MW) of renewable hydropower from Lao PDR to Singapore via Thailand and Malaysia using existing interconnections. The project commenced on 23 June 2022 and will run for a period of two years. 23 June 2022 Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project (LTMS-PIP), which imports up to 100 megawatts (MW) of renewable hydropower from Lao PDR to Singapore via Thailand and Malaysia using existing interconnections. The project commenced on 23 June 2022 and will run for a period of two years. ( See link https://www.ema.gov.sg/cmsmedia/News/Media%20Release/2022/20220623_MediaRelease_Singapore-commences-first-renewable-energy-electricity-imports-100MW.pdf)

EMA  allowed up to 4GW of total imports by 2035, which is expected to make up around 30% of Singapore’s total supply by 2035. EMA released an RFP for up to 4 MW of electricity imports,via two tenders , which has now been streamlined into one. ( See link https://www.ema.gov.sg/electricity-imports-rfp2.aspx).

More than 20 developers from different countries such as Malaysia, Australia, Cambodia and Indonesia responded initially.

Many of the country governments and ministries were banning the export of renewable energy. Imports from Australia were seen as the most obvious choice but in January 2023, SunCable announced that they would go into voluntary administration after its owners failed to agree on future funding plans. Recent updates in March 2023, suggests that there are a list of potential buyers to buy over the project. However, the biggest news is that one of the founders, Forest, mentioned that plans of the cable to Singapore, would be scrapped. ( See link https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/collapsed-australian-sun-cable-mega-project-attracts-multiple-bids-2023-03-15/)

16 March 2023: Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Renewable Energy Cooperation and Trade between Singapore & Indonesia was signed. The MOU hopefully removes the uncertainty whether the Indonesian government is supportive of renewable electricity exports to Singapore.

16 March 2023: EMA announced that Keppel Energy has been granted the first conditional approval among all the bidders to import 1 GW of electricity from Cambodia to Singapore. The proposal will see the imported electricity harnessing solar energy, hydropower, and potentially wind power, supported by battery energy storage systems or pumped storage hydropower. ( See link https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/electricity-imports-1gw-cambodia-singapore-keppe-energy-undersea-cables-3351096)

Hope the above timeline has been helpful in understanding the chronology of events.