SINGAPORE: A two-year trial that will see Singapore import 100 megawatts (MW) of electricity from Peninsular Malaysia began on Monday (Jan 30), after a joint agreement between YTL PowerSeraya and TNB Genco.
This marks the first time that electricity from Malaysia will be supplied to Singapore on a commercial basis.
YTL PowerSeraya said on Monday that they are collaborating with TNB Genco to export 100MW of electricity from Malaysia to Singapore via the newly upgraded interconnector.
The electricity will first be purchased from TNB Pasir Gudang Energy, a wholly owned special vehicle company by TNB Genco, before being exported.
This will make up about 1.5 per cent of Singapore’s peak electricity demand, enough to power about 144,000 four-room HDB flats for a year.
“Both parties will work closely with the Energy Market Authority of Singapore (EMA) and the (Malaysian) Energy Commission to refine all technical settings and regulatory arrangements under the Electricity Import Framework and the agreement will be effective upon fulfillment of conditions precedent,” a joint statement read.
The partnership was made official on Monday and was witnessed by Manpower Minister Tan See Leng and Malaysia’s International Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.
“DIVERSIFYING SINGAPORE’S ENERGY SOURCES”
“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.”
Nor Azman Bin Mufti, managing director of TNB Genco, also 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 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.
The Energy Market Authority of Singapore (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.
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.
