Singapore grants conditional approval to import Sarawak hydropower; companies studying new 2GW energy link with Malaysia

[SINGAPORE] The Republic and Malaysia on Friday (Oct 17) announced updates on two efforts to boost energy trade: the import of 1 gigawatt (GW) of clean power from Sarawak, as well as studying a new 2GW interconnection for the trade of electricity.

The efforts reflect both countries’ “shared commitment to energy security, decarbonisation and regional growth”, said Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and Malaysia’s Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation in a joint statement.

On Friday, Singapore’s energy regulator granted Sembcorp Utilities, a unit of renewables player Sembcorp Industries, conditional approval to import 1GW of low-carbon electricity from the Malaysian state of Sarawak.

The project, primarily tapping hydropower, is expected to start commercial operations around 2035.

The approval marks a “new phase of energy partnership between both nations”, said Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) in a press statement on Friday.

Sembcorp Utilities had earlier inked an agreement with Sarawak Energy and sub-sea cable maker Prysmian to work on the design, installation method and protection needs of the interconnection.

“EMA has preliminarily assessed the consortium’s project proposal to be technically and commercially viable in supplying electricity from hydropower in Sarawak to Singapore,” the regulator said in Friday’s press statement.

The conditional approval – which precedes a conditional licence – provides Sembcorp and its partners with regulatory support from EMA to develop the project.

The consortium will next have to secure all approvals from the relevant jurisdictions, including the countries through which the transmission cables will pass.

New energy interconnection

Separately, three companies signed a joint development agreement on Friday to conduct detailed feasibility studies for a 2GW interconnection between Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia.

The companies are Singapore Energy Interconnections (SGEI) and utilities players SP Group and Tenaga Nasional Berhad. SGEI was formed in April and appointed by the government to develop and operate cross-border electricity links.

The 2GW interconnection would be the second such power link between both countries. The existing link allows up to 1 GW of bi-directional electricity flows.

Singapore aims to import 6 GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035. It had previously awarded conditional approvals and licences for 7.35 GW worth of clean power import projects from Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Australia.

The Sarawak approval was marked by two ceremonies on Friday. The first, in Singapore, involved Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong and Sarawak Premier Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari.

The second ceremony was held at the sidelines of the Asean Ministers on Energy Meeting in Kuala Lumpur. It was attended by Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Amar Fadillah Yusof and Dr Tan See Leng, Singapore’s minister-in-charge of energy and science and technology.

The signing of 2GW interconnection deal was also witnessed by DPM Amar and Dr Tan at the meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

The power sector accounts for 40 per cent of Singapore’s carbon emissions. To decarbonise the sector, EMA will continue to engage all companies with “credible and commercially viable” energy import proposals.