Committee 2021 Roundup: Energy & Utilities

Extract from the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore Membership Directory 2021/22, available now to download

The Energy & Utilities (E&U) Business Committee started 2021 with a full events programme. Once again, we featured at the Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) with BritCham being the only chamber partnering on the official programme.  We organised a ‘ThinkTank Roundtable’ on the commercial opportunities from Net Zero, held the week before COP26.

This has been a big year for E&U.  The interest in climate change and sustainability has grown significantly in the last 12-24 months, urged forward by COP26 being held in the UK. The key to the climate change and economic growth dilemma is energy and how it is produced and used. This has kept our committee very busy. The mindset of the membership has transitioned from predominately oil & gas and power to renewables and sustainable solutions and how these will work in ASEAN. 

Our programme for the year lent heavily on BritCham’s ‘Road to Net Zero’ initiative. We worked across the Chamber, developing particularly strong linkage with the Sustainability, the Built Environment, and the ICT business committees where we have common corporate memberships.

E&U’s overarching themes in 2021 were:

1. COP26 pathway – Road to Net Zero. Key areas of focus: Energy, Transport, Nature-based solutions, Adaptation and Resilience and, Bringing it all together with Finance
2. Energy Systems
3. Commercial Models for Scale

In addition, we were very keen to promote connectivity with the energy sector across the UK, Singapore, and the region.  Our events, which are summarised in Orient publications throughout the year and available for replay, included:

• Asia’s Role in the Energy Transition - co-hosted by SIEW and the Atlantic Council, BritCham E&U Co-Chair Allard Nooy participated with the ASEAN Centre for Energy, the Asian Development Bank, and the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan.
• Carbon Capture, Utilisation & Storage (CCUS) - An Imperative for Asia – led by Ben Arnott with a focus on the finance of projects in the Southeast Asia region with expertise from the Asian Development Bank, BP, Société Générale, and Storegga Geotechnologies.
• Scaling Up Investments in Southeast Asia's Sustainable Infrastructure – moderated by Co-Chair Mark Florance, discussed creating the regulatory and commercial environment to meet ASEAN’s growing energy demand with the British High Commission, Carbon Trust, Clifford Capital, Infrastructure Asia, Shell and Sunseap.
• Battery Storage for Asia – moderated by Bree Miechel, examined grid, off-grid and behind the meter storage with the ASEAN Centre for Energy, BP Launchpad, the Carbon Trust and Engie.
• The Future of Green Data Centres – moderated by Paul Curie, discussed the moratorium in Singapore and developing projects in the tropical zone including energy and land-use efficiency with Ashurst, Keppel Data Centres and Energy Studies Institute at the National University of Singapore.
• SIEW ThinkTank Roundtable – The Net Zero COP – innovation and new technology, collaboration with the United Kingdom - trade opportunities on the journey to decarbonising ASEAN. The roundtable featured the British High Commission and regulator OFGEM in a fireside discussion moderated by Tim Rockell, and included panels with the UK Catapults, World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Development Investment Partnership, The Carbon Trust, and Sembcorp, joining committee members totalling 20 speakers. The replay is available on the SIEW website and the committee created four short video recaps of the session.

Our events programme brought together the public and private sector, tapping into expertise from the British High Commission, and included Singapore’s agencies, owners, operators, finance, and services firms who were able to share local and international experience. We aimed to establish what works and what does not work for those working in Singapore and the region.

2021 was not solely focussed on events. We took the opportunity to extend our outreach and were delighted to have sessions where we could connect and ‘road-test’ our planning with Singapore government and its institutions including the Ministry of Sustainability and Environment, Economic Development Board, Enterprise Singapore, Energy Market Authority, Infrastructure Asia, PUB and SG Innovate. Our linkages with the UK included the UK’s Catapults, driving innovation across public and private sectors, and Scottish Development International.

2021 was the first year with new Co-Chairs Allard Nooy, and Mark Florance working with Tim Rockell as Chairman.  We took the opportunity to broaden the E&U membership welcoming representatives from Ashurst, (Law), Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (Law), Jacobs (Technical) and Verisk Maplecroft (Risk). The committee has a good balance reflecting the sector in Singapore with international energy companies, renewable and sustainable infrastructure developers, and services including finance, law, technical advisory, and consultancy companies.

We are delighted to have a close working relationship with the British High Commission in Singapore including the Energy and Climate team and the Department for International Trade.  Tom Moody, Regional Director Southeast Asia Energy and Climate, the British High Commission in Singapore, joined our events programme twice this year.

Member Nikki Hewitt, Climate and Energy Attaché at the British High Commission won the Individual Contribution of the Year at the Chamber’s Annual Business Awards. Congratulations also to member Arup who also bagged two awards.

Additional thank you to all the E&U committee members from Aon, Arup, Ashurst, BP, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, Climate Investor One and Two, Department for International Trade, Energy Institute (UK) InfraCo Asia Development, Jacobs, KPMG, Mott Macdonald, Pennington Manches Cooper, Shell, Société Générale and Verisk Maplecroft who all contributed to a successful 2021 for E&U.

Stay in touch and join our events in 2022. After a year of virtual events, we are going to remain optimistic and ‘think hybrid’ for our activities. Meanwhile Like, Comment, Subscribe and turn on Notifications.

Watch the Committee's playlist of BritCham webinars on YouTube:

Listen to the Committee's playlist of BritCham Singapore Podcast episodes on Spotify: