SINGAPORE - Australian company Sun Cable, which is developing a solar energy power link between Australia and Singapore, on Wednesday confirmed the amount of electricity it planned to supply to the Republic.
Mr Mitesh Patel, Sun Cable’s chief commercial officer, said the supply would total 1.75 gigawatts (GW) of power. He told the Singapore International Energy Week conference that the company had also received expressions of interest from corporate buyers in Singapore for more than 2.5GW, illustrating strong interest in green energy supplies.
In response to questions, the company said it was not able to disclose when it would be supplying the 1.75GW. But Sun Cable said in June that it expects the project to be completed by 2029.
Green electricity imports are one of the key ways Singapore is aiming to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
The Republic is targeting an import capacity of up to 4GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035, which could make up about 30 per cent of the nation’s projected electricity supply then, the Energy Market Authority (EMA) has said.
Sun Cable has submitted an application under EMA’s second request-for-proposal (RFP2) programme to import electricity into Singapore. RFP2 opened in July and proposals need to be submitted by the end of 2023.
“We have submitted a proposal to supply Singapore as part of RFP2 and are currently working with the EMA on the import licence and supply dates. We cannot say anything more until EMA concludes the process,” Mr Fraser Thompson, Sun Cable co-founder and chief strategy officer, told The Straits Times.
Under the RFP2 programme, potential importers will have to demonstrate their supply reliability, credibility, track record, cost-competitiveness, and ability to supply and manage the carbon output of their power generation supply, the EMA said.
Sun Cable’s A$30 billion (S$27 billion) Australia-Asia PowerLink plans to send electricity to Singapore via subsea cables from a 12,000ha solar power station south of Darwin in the Northern Territory.
The 4,200km high-voltage cable link will be the longest of its type in the world, and the project aims to meet up to 15 per cent of Singapore’s power needs when it is completed by 2029, Sun Cable has said.
While the supply of 1.75GW is significant, the EMA noted that Singapore’s power demands are set to grow along with its population and economy, as well as the switch to electric vehicles and greater digitalisation.
The EMA’s latest projected peak system demand is 7.7GW to 8.1GW in 2022, 9.6GW to 10.4GW by 2029, and 10.1GW to 11GW by 2032.
