Singapore moves to import more low-carbon electricity from Indonesia

SINGAPORE: Singapore granted conditional approvals to another two companies on Thursday (Sep 5) to import low-carbon electricity from Indonesia, as the country raised its import target. 
The two companies – Singa Renewables and Shell Eastern Trading – have been given the conditional nod to import 1.4 gigawatts (GW) of electricity in total, said the Energy Market Authority (EMA) on Thursday (Sep 5).
“EMA has (preliminarily) assessed these projects to be technically and commercially viable,” it said in a media release. 
“The conditional approvals seek to facilitate the companies in obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals and licences for the projects.”
Singapore aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. EMA said it will continue to engage companies with “credible and commercially viable proposals” that can contribute to its 2050 target.
The two firms are not the first to be given conditional approvals to bring in low-carbon electricity from Indonesia.
In September 2023, five companies were granted conditional approvals to import 2GW of electricity in total from Indonesia.
On Thursday, EMA announced that these five firms have taken the next step in the process and been granted conditional licences – the first firms to be given such licences.
This came after “substantive progress” was made by the five Indonesia-based projects, said EMA. 
The five companies are: 
Pacific Medco Solar Energy will import 0.6GW, while Adaro Solar International and EDP Renewables APAC will import 0.4GW each. Vanda RE and Keppel Energy will import 0.3GW each.
The five companies have commenced and are at various stages of completing marine surveys and feasibility studies.
They have also “demonstrated their ability to meet the requirements of both Indonesia and Singapore”, EMA said.
Conditional licences may be issued to electricity import projects that have been assessed to be technically and commercially viable, and are in an advanced developmental stage.
“When the obligations in the conditional licences are fulfilled, EMA may subsequently issue the companies an electricity importer licence to commence construction and commercial operations,” the authority said.
The conditional licences and conditional approvals were awarded during the Indonesia International Sustainability Forum in Jakarta on Thursday.
The progress of these seven projects builds on multiple memorandums of understanding (MOUs) between Indonesia and Singapore on energy cooperation, EMA said.
The MOUs were signed in January 2022 and in March and September last year. 
“These MOUs affirm both countries’ commitment to facilitate cross-border trading projects and interconnections between Indonesia and Singapore, and investments in the development of renewable energy manufacturing industries, such as solar photovoltaics and battery energy storage systems in Indonesia,” said EMA.
In 2021, Singapore set its sights on importing up to 4GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035. 
Since then, it received over 20 proposals from multiple countries, demonstrating the viability of low-carbon electricity imports as a pathway for decarbonising the power sector, said EMA.
The power sector currently accounts for about 40 per cent of Singapore’s carbon emissions.
In total, EMA has issued conditional approvals to nine projects so far, including the five that have advanced to conditional licences. 
These projects include Keppel Energy’s proposal to import 1GW of low-carbon electricity from Cambodia and Sembcorp Utilities’ proposal to import 1.2GW from Vietnam. 
“Given the encouraging progress of electricity import projects and to ensure adequate supply to meet our future energy needs given growing demand, Singapore will raise its ambition and seek to import 6GW by 2035,” said EMA.
It added that it would continue to study all decarbonisation pathways for the power sector. 
These included hydrogen, solar, deep geothermal energy, nuclear energy, as well as carbon capture and storage technologies.
“As Singapore decarbonises, EMA will also seek to strike an optimal balance between energy security, sustainability, and cost competitiveness,” the authority said.