Singapore and Malaysia have upgraded the electricity interconnector between the two countries, says 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 the upgrading works in August this year, the interconnector can now accommodate bidirectional electricity flows of around 1,000 megawatts (MW) between Malaysia and Singapore. This is double its earlier capacity and has enhanced regional energy connectivity.
100MW represents about 1.5% of Singapore’s peak electricity demand in 2020 and can power over 144,000 4-room HDB flats for a year.
Speaking at the Singapore International Energy Week (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.
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The project is one of three 100MW energy import trials first announced last year. One comes from Peninsular Malaysia, where the Energy Market Authority (EMA) has appointed YTL PowerSeraya for a two-year trial.
The other involves solar-generated electricity from Pulau Bulan, Indonesia. There, EMA is working on a pilot with a consortium led by power generation company PacificLight Power (PLP).
Electricity will be supplied via a new interconnector that directly connects a solar farm in Pulau Bulan to PLP’s power station in Singapore and the pilot will be commissioned by around 2024.
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 4 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.”
