By Ashley Fang
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore on Tuesday announced conditional approval for Sembcorp Utilities to import 1.2 gigawatts (GW) of electricity from Vietnam, the city-state’s latest agreement to diversify its power sourcing and green a generation portfolio 95% of which is now fuelled by gas.
The agreement is in line with a broader Singapore objective, set in late 2021, to import up to 4 GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035.
Following are recent electricity import agreements:
VIETNAM
Under the deal announced on Tuesday, Sembcorp will develop offshore wind and other capacity with Petrovietnam Technical Services for export to Singapore.
The imported electricity will be transmitted from Vietnam via new subsea cables that will cover approximately 1,000 km (620 miles).
INDONESIA
On Sept. 8, Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) gave conditional approval for the import of 2 GW of low-carbon electricity from a solar power project in Indonesia.
The supply will be sourced from projects developed by a consortium of five Indonesian and Singaporean companies, including Pacific Medco Solar Energy, Adaro Solar International, EDP Renewables APAC, Vanda RE, and Keppel Energy.
Under the agreement, Keppel Corp will begin to import of 300 megawatts (MW) of lower-carbon electricity from Indonesia, with a target start date of the end of 2027. The electricity will be transmitted through a shared subsea transmission cable system, developed by Keppel, EDP Renewables APAC and Vanda Re.
CAMBODIA
In March 2023, Keppel Energy received conditional approval from the EMA for the long-term import and sale of 1 GW of low-carbon electricity from Cambodia.
Under a long-term agreement with Cambodia’s Royal Group Power Company, Keppel will import primarily solar-powered electricity through onshore overhead high voltage transmission lines and subsea high voltage transmission cables from Cambodia.
LAOS
In June 2022, Singapore saw its first import of 100 MW of renewable energy from Laos, which followed an agreement reached in September 2021 between Keppel Electric and Electricite du Laos.
In October last year, Keppel Energy signed a binding agreement with Laos’ PSG Corporation Public Co Ltd (PSGC) to jointly explore opportunities for importing renewable energy from Laos.
(Reporting by Ashley Fang; editing by Robert Birsel)
