Singapore boosted its target to import clean electricity from neighboring nations as it pushes to curb reliance on natural gas. The country now aims to import 6 GW of clean electricity by 2035, up 50 percent from its initial plan, Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) said in a recent statement.
“Low-carbon electricity imports are part of Singapore’s overall efforts to decarbonize the power sector, which currently accounts for about 40 percent of the nation’s carbon emissions,” stated EMA.
Two new projects to import 1.4 GW of low-carbon electricity
Given the strong interest by credible parties to participate in electricity import projects, and to ensure adequate supply to meet Singapore’s future energy needs, EMA now seeks to import around 6 GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035, up from the initial target of 4 GW announced in 2021.
To accomplish that target, EMA has granted conditional licenses to the five companies in charge of these projects. Additionally, EMA will grant conditional approvals to two new projects to import 1.4 GW of low-carbon electricity from Indonesia to Singapore. The authority awarded the licenses and approval during the Indonesia International Sustainability Forum in Jakarta on September 5, 2024.
Singapore’s 2050 net-zero ambitions
In 2021, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong announced Singapore’s plans to import up to 4 GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035.
Since then, Singapore has received over 20 proposals from multiple source countries, which has demonstrated the viability of low-carbon electricity imports as a pathway for decarbonizing the power sector. EMA has issued conditional approvals to nine projects thus far, of which five have advanced to conditional licenses.
EMA added that it will continue to engage companies with credible and commercially viable proposals that can contribute to Singapore’s 2050 net zero ambitions.
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