We refer to Mr Seah Ah Kuan's letter on how the Government should work with private sector players and other governments on renewable energy projects (Govt needs to partner private sector players to develop renewable projects, July 19).
We fully agree with Mr Seah that collaborating with like-minded partners is key to realising our energy sector's decarbonisation, as we harness the "four switches" - natural gas, solar energy, regional power grids and low-carbon alternatives - and encourage energy efficiency.
As part of our energy diversification strategy, we are, as Mr Seah suggested, working with stakeholders, including private sector companies and overseas government authorities, to explore potential electricity imports from sources such as solar, hydro and geothermal power.
For example, we are working with companies to pilot solar imports. As part of our request for proposal process for electricity imports, we will be actively engaging companies which submit expressions of interest to help them further develop their proposals.
Singapore has also been working with Asean member states to expand regional multilateral electricity trading, strengthen power grid resilience and accelerate the deployment of renewable energy.
Hydro-power imports from the Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project, which started on June 23, are an example of a public-private partnership that involves the governments and private sector companies in the respective countries.
To meet our longer-term clean energy need, Singapore is cooperating with countries like Australia and Japan on low-carbon solutions such as hydrogen.
We are also working closely with Nanyang Technological University and engaging the industry on exploratory studies on the potential of harnessing geothermal energy in Singapore.
We thank Mr Seah for his feedback and would like to assure him that we will continue to partner the private sector and other governments on our collective journey towards greater energy sustainability.
Ralph Foong
Deputy Chief Executive, Energy Planning and Development Division
Energy Market Authority
