First Conditional Licences for 2 GW of imports; Additional Conditional Approvals for 1.4 GW of imports

Following substantive progress made by five Indonesia-based projects to import a total of 2 gigawatts (GW) of low-carbon electricity to Singapore, the Energy Market Authority (EMA) has granted Conditional Licences to the five companies in charge of these projects.

Additionally, EMA will grant Conditional Approvals to two new projects to import 1.4 GW of low-carbon electricity from Indonesia to Singapore.

These Conditional Licences and Conditional Approvals were awarded during the Indonesia International Sustainability Forum in Jakarta on 5 September 2024.

Low-carbon electricity imports are part of Singapore’s overall efforts to decarbonise the power sector, which currently accounts for about 40% of the nation’s carbon emissions. Given the strong interest by credible parties to participate in electricity import projects, and to ensure adequate supply to meet Singapore’s future energy needs, EMA will also seek to import around 6 GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035, up from the initial target of 4 GW announced in 2021.

Conditional Licences

The five companies below, which are the first of companies to be granted Conditional Licences, are:

Pacific Medco Solar Energy Pte Ltd, formed by PacificLight Renewables Pte Ltd, Medco Power Global Pte Ltd and Gallant Venture Ltd          (Import Capacity 0.6 GW)

Adaro Solar International Pte Ltd., formed by PT Adaro Clean Energy Indonesia (Import Capacity 0.4 GW)

EDP Renewables APAC (Import Capacity 0.4 GW)

Vanda RE Pte Ltd, formed by Gurin Energy Pte Ltd and Gentari International Renewables Pte Ltd (Import Capacity 0.3 GW)

Keppel Energy Pte Ltd (Import Capacity 0.3 GW)

These companies were awarded Conditional Approval in September 2023. Since then, they have commenced and are at various stages of completing marine surveys and feasibility studies, as well as demonstrated their ability to meet the requirements of both Indonesia and Singapore. These companies aim to achieve commercial operations for the projects from 2028.

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 (please refer to Annex).

Conditional Approvals

EMA has granted Conditional Approvals to the following two projects to import 1.4 GW of low-carbon electricity from Indonesia into Singapore. EMA has preliminary assessed these projects to be technically and commercially viable. The Conditional Approvals seek to facilitate the companies in obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals and licences for the projects.

Singa Renewables Pte Ltd, a joint venture between TotalEnergies and RGE (Import Capacity 1 GW)

Shell Eastern Trading (Pte.) Ltd, in partnership with Vena Energy (Import Capacity 0.4 GW)

The progress of these seven projects build on multiple Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) between Indonesia and Singapore in the area of energy cooperation that were signed in January 2022, March 2023, and September 2023. These MOU 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.

Singapore's Imports Ambition

In 2021, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong announced Singapore’s plans to import up to 4 GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035.

Since then, Singapore has received over 20 proposals from multiple source countries, which has demonstrated the viability of low-carbon electricity imports as a pathway for decarbonising the power sector. EMA has issued Conditional Approvals to nine projects thus far, of which five have advanced to Conditional Licences.

Given the encouraging progress of electricity imports projects, and to ensure adequate supply to meet our future energy needs given growing demand, Singapore will raise its ambition and seek to import 6 GW by 2035. EMA will continue to engage companies with credible and commercially viable proposals that can contribute to Singapore’s 2050 net zero ambitions.

EMA will continue to study all decarbonisation pathways for the power sector, including 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.

Source EMA | Energy Market Authority