Singapore to double energy import capacity under regional power trade deal

(Photo credit: BT File)
Source: The Business Times

Singapore will boost its renewable energy import capacity to a maximum of 200 megawatts, thanks to enhancements to a cross-border multilateral trade deal.

The doubling in capacity was made possible by the introduction of multi-directional power trade, under which additional supply will come from Malaysia, said Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) and Keppel in a joint statement on Friday (Sep 20).

Keppel was the first entity to be issued an electricity importer licence by EMA. To support this next phase of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project (LTMS-PIP), EMA has also granted an extension of Keppel’s electricity importer licence for another two years to 2026.

The cross-border energy trade deal was launched on Jun 23, 2022, and is the first collaboration among Asean member states on multilateral electricity trading of renewable energy.

“We welcome the enhancements to the LTMS-PIP with the doubling in electricity trading capacity and the additional electricity supply from Malaysia,” said Puah Kok Keong, EMA’s chief executive.

“The LTMS-PIP will be more dynamic with multilateral and multidirectional power trading. This brings us closer to achieving the vision of the Asean Power Grid,” he added.

Cindy Lim, chief executive officer of Keppel’s infrastructure division, said the company is happy to be granted the two-year licence extension.

“This expansion underscores the scalability of multilateral electricity trading initiatives.

“As Singapore’s first cross-border electricity importer, Keppel is honoured to play a key role in advancing Asean’s power grid, enhancing energy infrastructure connectivity, and strengthening regional grid resilience,” she said.