It is official: Singapore aims to achieve net zero by 2050 while bringing forward a peak on emissions before the decade is over.
Forming Singapore’s revised 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), deputy prime minister Lawrence Wong announced on Oct 25 the republic’s most ambitious headline target yet, along with an intermediate goal of 60 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2030, down from 65 MtCO2e previously.
Speaking at the Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) 2022, Wong says Singapore will submit these updates to its Long-Term Low-Emissions Development Strategy (LEDS) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by the end of the year.
The two updated commitments are the latest in a series of changes over the past two years. In 2020, Singapore aimed to halve its emissions from a 2030 peak “as soon as viable in the second half of the century”.
At Budget 2022 in February, Wong said Singapore will aim to reduce emissions to net zero “by or around mid-century”.
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In September, the National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) sought the public’s views on the 2050 net-zero timeline and the possibility of an updated 2030 peak target.
Announcements that followed all lent towards this overarching goal. Wong announced the National Hydrogen Strategy within the same speech, outlining plans to develop the low-carbon fuel, which could supply half the nation’s power needs by 2050.
According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), hydrogen has the potential to be adopted across different sectors as a low-carbon fuel or feedstock. “Hydrogen does not release any greenhouse gases when combusted. When produced through low-emission methods such as through the electrolysis of water using renewable energy, it can have close to zero emissions.”
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Wong names five “key thrusts” for Singapore’s hydrogen plans.
First, Singapore will experiment with advanced hydrogen technologies that are almost ready for the market. The government will launch an Expression of Interest for a smallscale commercial project on utilising ammonia for power generation, including developing ammonia supply chains to also support marine bunkering needs.
“Such a project will allow us to assess the viability of ammonia — as both a hydrogen carrier and as a direct fuel — and develop regulations and [an] ecosystem to support it,” says Wong. The Energy Market Authority (EMA) will release further details in the coming months. Wong was the chief executive of EMA between 2009 and 2011 before entering politics.
Second, Singapore will conduct R&D to advance these technologies. Hydrogen will be a key focal area for Phase 2 of the Low Carbon Energy Research (LCER) Programme. In October 2021, the government awarded $55 million for projects under Phase 1 of the programme for research into low-carbon technologies. A further $129 million will be set aside for Phase 2, says Wong.
Third, the government will work with industry and international partners to create and scale supply chains for low-carbon hydrogen, says Wong, including Guarantee of Origin certification.
Fourth, the mass deployment of hydrogen will require new infrastructure, says Wong. “We will develop the land and infrastructure plans and pace its implementation accordingly.”
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Finally, adopting hydrogen will bring about new economic opportunities for Singapore and our enterprises and workers, says Wong. “Opportunities abound along the hydrogen supply chain — financing, trading, certifying, transporting, storage and deployment. We will work with industry and the education sector to support workforce training. This will put Singaporeans in good stead to capture new opportunities in the global hydrogen economy.”
Certain Singapore companies are already heavily involved in the hydrogen ecosystem. Temasek Holdings, for example, has formed a joint venture with Nanofilm Technologies International to capture the growing market of hydrogen-fuelled machinery.
On Oct 27, this joint venture, Sydrogen Energy, announced that it has signed an MOU with town gas supplier City Energy to come up with ways to generate an end-to-end hydrogen fuel cell solution for off-grid power supply.
Tighter grip on electricity retailers
Singapore’s energy regulator will introduce guardrails for electricity retailers after the market was destabilised when energy prices shot up with the recovery from the pandemic and the outbreak of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine.
EMA will “strengthen consumer protection” by tightening regulatory requirements, says minister for trade and industry Gan Kim Yong on Oct 25.
These measures include a central competitive tender for power generation capacity, which will prevent oversupply while mandating standby fuel facilities to guard against gas supply disruptions and stricter eligibility criteria for electricity retailers and wholesale electricity consumers.
Speaking at the opening address of SIEW 2022, Gan says the energy landscape has changed significantly. “We will need to strengthen the market structure and put in guardrails to ensure that the market continues to function well even under volatile conditions.”
After energy prices surged from late last year, several independent retailers exited the market as they could not pass on higher wholesale prices to their own customers because of lock-in contracts. EMA now wants to ensure that only “credible” industry players with sufficient financial strength and sustainable business propositions will be allowed to retail electricity to consumers.
On the consumer side, EMA will look into tightening the eligibility criteria for Wholesale Electricity Price (WEP) plans so that only consumers who can deal with price volatilities will be allowed to buy at the WEP.
Today, generation companies in Singapore have significant flexibility to decide on the amount and duration of gas contracts but this does not provide sufficient assurance, says Gan.
Late last year, EMA introduced temporary crisis management measures like requiring generation companies to maintain sufficient fuel for power generation and establishing a standby fuel facility to guard against gas supply disruptions.
EMA will now mandate these as permanent features. “In addition, EMA will work with the industry to explore ways to aggregate gas procurement and obtain longer-term and more secure contracts,” says Gan.
High electricity prices signal to companies that capacity is tight and new planting is needed. However, it takes four to five years to build new capacity, says Gan. However, uncoordinated multiple plantings could lead to excess capacity.
EMA will thus introduce a competitive tender “as and when needed” for capacity that will be required within the next five years. Interested participants can participate in the process and the most competitive proposal will be awarded a licence to build, own and operate the new capacity, says Gan.
No new plantings will be allowed outside of this process to provide greater certainty to investors and avoid risks of over-capacity. Should there be inadequate interest, EMA will build the required new capacity.
Gan says he is mindful that these adjustments will “reduce the flexibility of some market participants”. EMA will consult the industry and the public on these proposed changes and put in place such enhancements progressively, says Gan. “Having strengthened our ship, we will be able to focus on our journey towards net-zero emissions. This is a challenging, but worthwhile and necessary journey.”
Interconnector upgraded
Singapore and Malaysia have upgraded the electricity interconnector between the two countries, said minister for manpower and second minister for trade and industry Tan See Leng on Oct 26.
Since 1983, the interconnector has enabled mutual energy transfer between Singapore and Malaysia during times of power system disturbances.
With the completion of upgrading works this August, the interconnector can now accommodate bidirectional electricity flows of around 1,000 megawatts (MW) between Malaysia and Singapore, double its earlier capacity.
Speaking at SIEW 2022, Tan says the interconnector is currently used for cross-border power trade under the Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project (LTMS-PIP).
The LTMS-PIP, which commenced on June 23, imports up to 100MW of renewable hydropower from Lao PDR to Singapore via Thailand and Malaysia using existing interconnections. 100MW represents about 1.5% of Singapore’s peak electricity demand in 2020 and can power over 144,000 four-room HDB flats for a year.
Beyond the trials, EMA has received more than 20 proposals to import electricity from five countries: Australia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia and Thailand, says Tan. “[We] remain on track to meet our imports target of 4GW [gigawatts] by 2035. Prospective importers are keen to work with companies in the region to co-develop projects which can also serve the domestic demand of source countries.”
Regional and international outreach continues
Tan also unveiled an MOU signed between Singapore and Cambodia on the sidelines of SIEW to deepen energy cooperation between the two countries.
The announcement is the latest in a string of agreements and MOUs including the Green Economy Agreement with Australia and the MOUs on Energy Cooperation with Vietnam, Lao PDR, as well as the MOU on Energy and Green Economy Cooperation with Brunei Darussalam in August.
“Such partnerships will help to facilitate key areas of cooperation such as the development and financing of renewable energy projects, development of regional power grids and cross-border grid interconnections for electricity between both countries, and the development of measurement, reporting and verification frameworks for Renewable Energy Certificates,” says Tan.
He also announced Singapore’s partnership with the US on a Feasibility Study on Regional Energy Connectivity in Southeast Asia to assess the benefits, technical feasibility and economic viability of developing a regional power grid network comprising both land and sea-based interconnections in the region.
The study will be part of the Net Zero World Initiative led by the US. Tan says the US will work with Singapore and its other partners in Southeast Asia to co-create and implement highly tailored, actionable technical and investment plans to support energy decarbonisation in the region.
On Oct 25, Tan announced that Singapore and the International Energy Agency (IEA) are in discussions to explore the possibility of setting up an IEA Regional Cooperation Centre in Singapore to expand the agency’s outreach to the Asia Pacific region.
Infographics: Ministry of Trade and Industry, National Climate Change Secretariat
