Ethiotime1
“DIVERSIFYING SINGAPORE’S ENERGY SOURCES”
Nor Azman Mufti, managing director of TNB Genco, said the agreement “is a positive step for the strengthening of cross-border energy supply towards the realisation of a fully interconnected ASEAN power grid”.
“This will mark TNB Genco’s maiden foray into the Singapore market via cross-border electricity sales and we hope this will become the catalyst to capture future projects in this market,” he added.
YTL PowerSeraya is the only party in Singapore with prior experience in cross-border power trade and financial settlements, having traded across the interconnector to supply electricity to TNB in Malaysia in 2011 and 2013.
The company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Geneco also serves Singapore’s retail electricity market.
EMA said in October 2021 that it had appointed YTL PowerSeraya for a two-year trial to import 100MW of electricity from Peninsular Malaysia.
“YTL PowerSeraya was selected as its proposal was best able to meet EMA’s requirements to trial electricity imports via the existing interconnector,” said the authority.
The move is part of Singapore’s plan to strengthen the “regional grid architecture”, said then Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing in a keynote speech delivered at the opening of the Singapore International Energy Week in October 2021.
The trial was initially expected to commence in early 2022.
“YTL PowerSeraya, together with YTL Power International, is honoured to work with TNB Genco, a wholly owned subsidiary of TNB, the national electricity utility in Malaysia, to contribute our part in diversifying Singapore’s energy sources and further enhancing the nation’s energy security,” CEO of YTL PowerSeraya John Ng said.
“We believe that this is the first step in our vision of a strong ASEAN power grid, where electricity imports may eventually form a key part of Singapore’s energy mix.”
In response to CNA queries on the possibility of a regional electricity market in the future, YTL PowerSeraya noted the increasing interest and discussion for energy diversification at the regional level.
“We see neighbouring countries planning for long-term initiatives for a more secure and sustainable future with the ASEAN power grid,” it added.
Last June, Singapore started importing up to 100MW of renewable hydropower from Laos through Thailand and Malaysia, after an initial two-year power purchase agreement was signed between Keppel Electric and Laos’ state-owned Electricite du Laos (EDL).
Singapore intends to import up to four gigawatts (GW) of low-carbon electricity by 2035, which will make up about 30 per cent of the country’s electricity supply in that year.
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