Excellencies and Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. Very happy to be back at the Asia Clean Energy Summit. This is my second time attending this event.
2. Against today’s backdrop of climate change and heightened energy insecurity, the energy transition has become a more difficult balancing act for all countries. We must act and accelerate the shift to cleaner energy, while keeping our energy supply secure and affordable.
3. Singapore is an alternative energy-disadvantaged nation. Our limited land area and high population density constrain the deployment of domestic renewable resources. There is no single solution today that meets all our requirements for energy transition. This is why we pursue our “Four Switches”: natural gas, solar, regional power grids and low-carbon alternatives.
4. Yesterday, Minister Tan See Leng spoke about how we are safeguarding our natural gas supplies to strengthen our energy resilience.
5. Today, I will focus on how we are maximising solar deployment and enabling viable electricity imports through regional power grids. I will also touch briefly on our efforts to explore promising low-carbon sources for the future.
Maximising solar deployment
6. Let me start with solar deployment. We have just raised our ambition to 4 gigawatt-peak by 2035. To get there, we will harness solar energy wherever we can across Singapore.
7. We are working hard on that. We are intensifying our efforts in two ways. First, we will continue to scale up solar deployment across available spaces, from rooftops on public and private buildings to vacant land and water surfaces.
8. For the public sector, we have deployed conventional rooftop solar on over 5,000 HDB blocks and public buildings through HDB’s SolarNova programme and other existing efforts.
9. But there is room to solarise more public spaces beyond rooftops. I am happy to announce that EMA has launched a new tender for solarisation of public premises, which will include new surfaces such as solar carports and building-integrated photovoltaics. The tender will aggregate the demand across Government agencies, and create greater scale and more opportunities for the solar industry.
10. We will also explore making better use of vacant land. I know Singapore is land-constrained, but we do have pockets of vacant land. One solution – which Equator Renewables Asia and others are pioneering in Singapore – is to use containerised solar, which can be deployed on vacant land in a rapid, flexible, and scalable way.
11. Private residential homes also offer another interesting opportunity where we can do more for solarisation. Today, we have over 8,000 residential solar installations, but there are still some homeowners who have not embarked on this yet.
12. To make it easier for private homeowners to get started, EMA will partner the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS) to develop avenues for homeowners to connect with suitable installers. More details, I understand, will be available soon.
13. In the meantime, I would encourage homeowners to check out what is available out there
14. Second, we will turn to advanced technology to unlock new surfaces for solar deployment in Singapore.
15. To truly maximise our solar potential, we must look beyond conventional surfaces such as rooftops and open land, which, in Singapore, is very limited. I will share a few examples of how we plan to use new technologies to tap on more of Singapore’s built environment for greater solarisation.
16. In our industrial estates, for example, JTC is piloting Singapore’s first “overhang” solar deployment project in the Woodlands East Industrial Estate. Renewable energy company EDP APAC will install solar panels on an overhead canopy spanning the unused space between two multi-storey buildings.
17. This will transform an unused area of more than half a football field into a new source of energy. If successful, the pilot could unlock similar unused spaces between more buildings for solar deployment in Singapore.
18. JTC is also launching two new innovation challenges today. They will be inviting companies to develop solutions to some practical challenges that we face in deploying solar in Singapore. Selected projects will receive funding from JTC to develop and test their products.
19. The first calls for solutions that can be installed directly onto building facades. Compared to traditional rooftop installations, deployment on building facades can be more difficult. Deployment will need to account for factors like building design, orientation, and structural requirements, as well as maintenance, performance and cost.
20. The second challenge that will be launched by JTC seeks solutions that pair quick-to-deploy containerised solar panels with mobile battery energy storage systems. This solution will help many temporary worksites that have limited or no access to the power grid and currently rely heavily on noisy and pollutive diesel generators.
21. Even going beyond construction sites and areas that deploy power generators on a mobile basis, we believe that other sectors can play a role as well. Our heritage buildings, for example, could play a part. Together with the Singapore Land Authority and the Swiss technology innovation centre CSEM, we are looking to pilot solar roof tiles on heritage state buildings to generate clean energy. This is to be done without compromising the unique architectural features and character of these heritage buildings.
22. In sum, we are pushing all boundaries and surfaces, literally, and capturing every opportunity to harness solar across Singapore.
23. Even so, we know that there are limits to how much solar energy we can deploy here. Solar energy will meet at most 10% of our electricity needs in 2050. At the same time, many of the low-carbon options we are considering are still nascent and will not be ready for deployment soon.
24. This makes low-carbon electricity imports from the region an important option for Singapore.
Enabling viable electricity import projects
25. Let me first acknowledge that electricity imports are complex by nature. We have been working hard on this option. These projects span multiple jurisdictions and require participating governments to provide long-term regulatory certainty to make progress.
26. Electricity imports must also be commercially viable and competitive against other decarbonisation options, such as solar and carbon credits.
27. Despite these challenges, electricity imports remain a key thrust in our efforts to decarbonise the power sector and diversify our energy sources.
28. We are pressing ahead with our efforts to build a pipeline of promising projects, while strengthening the ecosystem that’s needed to support such projects.
29. Just yesterday, EMA granted another Conditional Approval to Sembcorp Utilities to import 1.3 GW of electricity from or through Peninsular Malaysia to Singapore. With its consortium partners from Malaysia and Vietnam, Sembcorp intends to source low-carbon electricity imports from multiple sources, including offshore wind from Vietnam and solar power from Malaysia.
30. With this latest project, EMA has now granted CAs to three projects from Peninsular Malaysia. And if all three projects materialise, up to 2.2 GW of low-carbon electricity could flow from Peninsular Malaysia to Singapore.
31. To bring in electricity at this scale, we will need sufficient transmission infrastructure and capacity between our two countries. This strengthens the case for the second interconnector between Singapore and Malaysia. I’m happy to note that the ongoing feasibility studies for the second interconnector are underway, and on track. I’m looking forward to the completion of the studies early next year.
32. As for Indonesia, at the Leaders’ Retreat in July this year, both Singapore and Indonesia agreed on a bilateral roadmap to catalyse electricity imports, alongside B2B MOUs between Danantara and Singapore companies to advance commercial and transmission arrangements.
33. These are important steps. But we also know that advancing individual projects will not be enough. We must also build the wider ecosystem necessary for imports to take off.
34. We must establish clear rules for regional electricity trade to reduce uncertainty for developers and enhance the bankability of projects. The ASEAN Regulatory Guidelines for Facilitating Submarine Power Cable Activities is one example. These Guidelines aim to establish best practices for submarine power cable activities in the region, including subsea surveys and the laying, maintenance, repair, and protection of submarine power cables.
35. ASEAN energy ministers expressed support for this set of Guidelines earlier this month. And Singapore, being Chair of ASEAN in 2027, will work with our fellow AMS to have these Guidelines endorsed next year.
36. We will also need to develop common commercial, legal and institutional arrangements to support cross-border electricity trade. For instance, we need a shared understanding of cross-border wheeling charges, or fees that are paid when electricity flows through another country’s grid on its way to Singapore.
37. This is one of the focus areas that the World Bank Group is studying through the ASEAN Power Grid Mobilisation Partnership. The study will examine challenges along existing regional cross-border electricity trading routes, draw some lessons from other regional power markets, and develop recommendations that are suited for ASEAN.
38. At the same time, we must ensure that our market keeps pace with these new developments. One area we have been studying is the use of Renewable Energy Certificates, or RECs. Now, companies use RECs to demonstrate their use of renewable electricity for sustainability reporting.
39. As we expand access to renewable electricity through solar, and electricity imports in time to come, businesses will have more opportunities to use RECs to meet their sustainability goals.
40. We have heard from some businesses that they want greater clarity on what different types of RECs represent, and what claims they can credibly support.
41. We have therefore updated SS673, Singapore's standard for RECs. Under the amended standard, renewable electricity claims in Singapore should be supported by RECs from renewable electricity physically supplied to our grid, whether these are from imports or domestic sources like solar. This is in line with international practices to ensure that renewable electricity claims are supported by credible evidence.
42. To be clear, RECs from overseas projects which do not supply electricity to Singapore can still be used to show support for overseas renewable energy development. But they cannot be used to claim that the electricity consumed here in Singapore is renewable.
43. The updated SS673 will strengthen trust in corporate sustainability reporting and reduce the risk and issues of greenwashing concerns that we have heard.
44. For electricity imports in particular, the updated standard recognises RECs that are associated with imported renewable electricity supplied to Singapore. Businesses will have greater confidence in the renewable electricity claims that they make, and also may be willing to pay more for imported electricity with credible RECs. This, we think, could in turn improve the commercial viability of import projects.
Explore new low-carbon options
45. Beyond electricity imports and solar as near-term pathways, Singapore is also exploring promising low-carbon technologies for the future.
46. Nuclear and geothermal energy are two options we are studying seriously. You would have heard from Minister Tan See Leng yesterday. If proven viable, they could provide clean, round-the-clock power at scale, complementing solar and electricity imports in the future.
47. We are also testing other promising solutions such as biomethane. Last week, we appointed Keppel, Sembcorp, and Tuas Power as the three aggregators for the 300MW Biomethane Sandbox. This will test the commercial viability of biomethane power generation.
Conclusion
48. Ladies and gentlemen, I have spoken at length about three ways Singapore is pressing ahead with the transition to cleaner energy sources: by maximising solar deployment, enabling viable low-carbon electricity imports in the region, and exploring new low-carbon sources.
49. This is just the latest chapter in Singapore’s energy story. We have come a long way, I must say, since the early years, when we relied on fuel oil for power, and when our entire power system vertically integrated from generation to distribution.
50. Much has changed since EMA’s establishment in 2001. Credit to EMA’s leadership, past and present. We have shifted to cleaner natural gas, we have liberalised our electricity market to promote competition and efficiency, and we have strengthened our energy security.
51. This year, EMA celebrates its 25th anniversary. I'd like to thank all the EMA colleagues, you know, who have helped to power Singapore's growth. Not sure how many of you have picked up this book, Power On, distributed since yesterday to all the SIEW participants. If you have not collected your free copy, please do so. It is a commemorative book that captures the stories, the journey of EMA and very much Singapore's energy story. The essays in Power On offer a glimpse into the work that has gone into keeping Singapore's lights on over the years, and really, what it will take to build a cleaner, brighter power future for Singapore.
52. But that work must continue. That work must continue. Yesterday I was engaging a group of youth from our polytechnics, ITEs, and universities who are very curious and interested in careers in the power industry. And I encouraged them to discover and to look at how they themselves also can contribute to Singapore's energy story in the future.
53. And I hope for the next generation of Singaporeans, they will understand that they will have to live with the consequences of climate change like us, and perhaps for them they will have to face an even more uncertain energy landscape for a much longer time than many of us here today.
54. But the opportunities are rebound, and I'm really excited by the energy that I see in SIEW this year, looking at how the government, industry, organisations, and many partners are coming together to power the growth and the transition that we are going through.
55. Well, I would like to invite all of you to join us in writing the next chapter of our energy story. The complexity of energy transition means that there will be many more ways for us to make a difference. We can start shaping the policies and also the systems that enable change, develop new technologies together, and bring these new solutions to market.
56. All of us, can play a part in writing Singapore's energy story. This story is about 25 years of EMA. I'm looking forward, to the next few chapters that will define Singapore's energy in the future. Thank you.