Singapore’s future currently lies in gas, but plans are shaping up for how to put hydrogen, and solar to work through energy imports
SOLAR PLAN
A 2 GW by 2030 target of installed solar capacity will be achieved using roof-top, floating and vertical solutions
AUSTRALIA LINK
Plans to install a 7000 kilometre cable to a 10 GW Australian solar project are being seriously considered, though reservations about the wisdom of doing so are circulating KEY QUOTE
Solar power is probably the most plausible way to have a greater proportion of the energy mix from renewable sources As a small island nation with the third-highest population density in the world after Monaco and Macao, Singapore faces extraordinary challenges in decarbonising its energy system. The wind resource is insufficient, limited sea space prevents tidal technology deployment, lack of a river system rules out hydro generation, and land is so scarce it leaves no room for solar or nuclear. Transitioning to emissions free generation requires some seriously innovative solutions. Singapore’s power system is rooted in oil, but it became a natural gas dominated system in the early 2000s. Almost 96% of Singapore’s electricity capacity—around 12 GW—was provided by natural gas power stations as of March 2020, according to the country’s Energy Market Authority (EMA). Most of their gas is imported, says Thomas Lim of local energy utility PacificLight Power. A further 2.3% of power is from solar PV and 2% from waste-to-energy projects. Despite the country’s natural resource limitations, in 2019 Singapore’s government set a target for 2 GW of solar capacity by 2030. Speaking at Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) conference in October 2020, trade and industry minister Chan Chun Sing added an interim target of 1.5 GW of solar by 2025. “Solar power is probably the most plausible way for us to have a greater proportion of our energy mix from renewable sources,” he said. “[Singapore has] very ambitious renewable targets—that 2 GW is pretty much from nothing,” says Kieran Clarke, Southeast Asia programme manager at the International Energy Agency (IEA). “I have a lot of faith in Singapore, as they have a lot of ingenuity.” In 2017, the country had less than 100 MW of installed solar capacity, which has now risen to around 350 MW. A lot of the uptake has been driven by installations on public housing units, driven by an invitation to tender for the work issued by the Housing and Development Board. So far there have been five tenders of around 1000 blocks each.
SOLAR OPTIONS
To begin the process of increasing its solar capacity, in 2019 Singapore’s Public Utilities Board (PUB) put out a tender for 60 MW floating solar PV installation in a reservoir. The tender was ultimately won by a wholly owned subsidiary of Singaporean energy developer Sembcorp Industries and construction began in August 2020. “Through refining their urban planning strategy, the government is using previously underutilised spaces on roofs and even water surfaces to progressively reach the target of the 2 GW installation,” says Lim. Singapore has 17 reservoirs, which could potentially see further floating solar installations. The private sector is also turning to solar to lower its emissions. PacificLight’s solar offerings take two forms: the installation and operation of the solar system at an agreed rate for a set term under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA); or the direct purchase of a solar system through PacificLight along with a mixed energy supply plan for additional energy needs. “PacificLight has seen an increase in interest by customers for solar power and foresees that this trend will continue to grow as people continue to move from the mindset of clean energy being a good-to-have to a must-have,” says Lim. “With what you could do tomorrow, rooftop [solar] is a clear solution,” says the IEA’s Clarke. Batteries for storing the daytime generation for use after sunset, however, are still considered expensive, especially at a decentralised level. For those without sufficient space to install panels, Singapore has a burgeoning market for trade of renewable energy certificates (RECs), with supply from both domestic and overseas generation. “Presently, there is insufficient capacity in Singapore to meet the volume of demand for renewable energy which leads to a price premium for RECs,” says Lim. Companies participating in the RE100 initiative—a global club of corporate members who pledge to source 100% of their electricity from renewable sources by a target year—are partly driving REC use in Singapore, according to the National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) in a report on solar power development. Mandatory sustainability reporting by firms listed on the Singapore Exchange is also a factor.
CABLE FROM AUSTRALIA
Potential investors in Singapore’s energy transition are looking outside the country for solutions to the local challenges in developing clean energy assets. In Australia’s Northern Territory, the country’s Sun Cable is pursuing an ambitious A$22 billion (US$16 billion) plan to construct a 10 GW solar farm with 30 GWh of storage capacity and export the electricity to Singapore. The power would be transported 700 kilometres north to Darwin and on to Singapore via a 4500 kilometre high voltage direct current (HVDC) cable and converter system, with the potential to be further extended to Indonesia. Sun Cable estimates that the so-called Australia-ASEAN Power Link could supply 20% of Singapore’s electricity demand. In 2019 the country’s electricity consumption was 51.7 TWh. The government is especially keen on Sun Cable, says Clarke, with the appeal of a dedicated power supply. “Supplying Singapore is one thing—but Sun Cable is also talking about going through Singapore and supplying the [southeast Asia] region, which is where it gets trickier,” says Clarke. The grid in southeast Asia is not as developed as elsewhere, such as in Europe. An interconnector between Singapore and Malaysia already exists, but historically it is seen as providing no more than security of supply. In his remarks at SIEW, Chan announced the country would trial importing 100 MW from its northern neighbour over the next two years, to iron out technical challenges between the systems and enable further interconnectivity. “We will test how the market works and how the technical challenges can be overcome to allow the region to share the clean energy resources that different countries may have. We will start this with Malaysia and we will extend this to other regional players once the concept takes off,” Chan said. He also affirmed the country will play a role in the Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project, which will look to trade up to 100 MW of power from Laos to Singapore via existing interconnectors. “This will be a pathfinder towards the broader ASEAN Power Grid vision and underlines our commitment to advance regional power grids as a solution to decarbonisation in the region,” Chan said. Market experts in the region, however, highlight the technical, political and economic barriers to such a project. In addition, the sheer distance of Sun Cable’s Australia-ASEAN link and the water depth involved likely means added costs for Singapore consumers, also in transmission losses over such a long length of cable.
HYDROGEN FLIPS PLAN
A rival project to Sun Cable’s initiative involved running a cable to Singapore from a proposed 26 GW Asian Renewable Energy Hub in Western Australia, but it abandoned its plans to export wind and solar power to Singapore in November 2020. Instead it opted to use the 26 GW of power to extract hydrogen from water and combine it with nitrogen from the air to create ammonia. The project developer says the switch opens the door to more markets for export. It has its eyes on competing with coal in existing power plants and providing fuel for ships. The economics of producing and shipping ammonia, using hydrogen from renewable energy, are better than exporting electricity over long distances, the developer claims. Domestically, other opportunities include supplying electricity from storage systems and using hydrogen, says Lim. “Singapore is at the forefront of embracing emerging technologies and I see this as a very encouraging indicator that would also extend to the power industry,” he says.
The foreseeable future still brings about the need for natural gas plants and a focus on maximising efficiency to minimise Singapore’s carbon footprint
CARBON CAPTURE
“[There] are things that can help decarbonise the power system,” says Clarke, citing hydrogen and adding carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) to its gas generation. “But Singapore can only truly decarbonise if it imports [power].” Given the nascent stages and high costs of some of the technologies needed—including hydrogen and thin-film solar films for use on skyscrapers—for the time being, gas looks set to continue playing a big role in Singapore’s electricity supply. Chan pushed efficiency and the latest technologies for combined-cycle gas turbines. But he also said the government is investing $28 million in hydrogen and CCUS research and development. “In the short to medium term, I think Singapore’s focus is on solar, efficiency improvements and meeting its targets under the Paris accord,” says Lim. “The government is cognisant of the uphill road to decarbonisation,” says Thomas, referencing Chan’s comments at SIEW. “The foreseeable future still brings about the need for natural gas plants and a focus on maximising efficiency to minimise Singapore’s carbon footprint.”
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Katie Kouchakji