Singapore’s energy strategy has to be more diversified, forward-looking: PM Wong

SINGAPORE – Singapore will pursue multiple paths to ensure its energy security, from diversifying its sources of natural gas to expanding electricity imports and developing low-carbon alternatives, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

Outlining Singapore’s energy strategy in a speech on May 19, he noted that the country remains exposed to global supply disruptions as it imports nearly all its energy. Its options to decarbonise are also limited because it has limited renewable resources, he said.

“There is no single solution for Singapore, there is no silver bullet,” he said, adding that its strategy has to be “more deliberate, more diversified and more forward-looking than before”.

“We cannot depend on any single fuel source, supplier or technology. We have to pursue multiple pathways at the same time – balancing security, affordability and sustainability,” he said at a dinner at Shangri-La Singapore to mark the Energy Market Authority’s (EMA) 25th anniversary.

On developing low-carbon power sources within Singapore, PM Wong said solar energy is the most obvious option.

The country has multiplied its solar capacity almost fivefold in the last five years, he noted.

“We will continue to maximise every available surface – rooftops, reservoirs and vacant land. But even if we do so, solar energy can still meet only a limited share of our total power demand,” PM Wong said.

Another option is hydrogen, which can be considered a clean fuel as it does not produce any planet-warming carbon dioxide when burned.

Efforts to tap hydrogen include a pilot project on Jurong Island to test the use of ammonia – a hydrogen carrier – for power generation, and having hydrogen-ready combined cycle gas turbines. Such turbines can take in a blend of natural gas and hydrogen, reducing carbon emissions in the process.

But constraints in scaling up hydrogen to generate power remain.

“To use hydrogen, you first have to produce it. Then you have to liquefy it, convert it into ammonia, ship it across oceans, convert it back again, and finally burn it to generate electricity,” he said, noting that energy is lost at every stage.

“Technology can help improve parts of the process. But it cannot eliminate these losses altogether. So, this will constrain the role that hydrogen can play in large-scale power generation for some time to come.”

PM Wong said this is why Singapore continues to study other options, including nuclear power.

He announced that the Republic will undergo an assessment by the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2027 to determine if it is ready to make an informed decision on nuclear energy deployment. He stressed that the move was not a decision to deploy nuclear energy in Singapore.

In the medium term, natural gas will continue to anchor Singapore’s energy mix, PM Wong said.

The country currently relies on natural gas – a fossil fuel – for about 95 per cent of its energy needs. It is building a second liquefied natural gas terminal at Jurong Port that will provide the capacity to meet all of its natural gas needs.

It has also set up Singapore GasCo – a fully government-owned entity – to centralise gas procurement from diverse sources.

Another part of Singapore’s energy strategy is electricity imports. Noting that Singapore has an existing interconnector with Malaysia, PM Wong said more of such power links to draw from a wider and more diverse range of sources are welcome.

“There is very strong interest to sell power to Singapore. But progress so far has been slow because these projects are inherently complex,” he said, adding that they are capital-intensive and involve subsea cables that cross multiple maritime boundaries and jurisdictions, each with its own regulatory and legal requirements.

To support such imports, EMA is also studying how the market framework can be updated to enable import projects to be commercially viable.

PM Wong also said that while the green attributes of low-carbon electricity imports should be recognised, the price premium over fossil fuel-generated power must still be competitive relative to other decarbonisation options like carbon credits.

“On that basis, we hope that Singapore importers will be able to advance their commercial discussions with overseas project developers, and eventually reach viable arrangements,” he added.

PM Wong said each of the solutions in Singapore’s energy strategy comes with trade-offs and constraints.

“But our responsibility is to plan ahead and build resilience early so that Singapore can continue to enjoy secure, reliable and increasingly clean energy for the future.”