Singapore seeks bids for up to 3 new power plants as electricity demand rises

SINGAPORE: The Energy Market Authority (EMA) on Wednesday (Apr 29) launched a tender for up to three new power plants to support Singapore’s growing electricity demand.

Under this “request for proposal”, the private sector will build, own and operate new hydrogen-ready power plants, comprising one unit to be ready by 2031 and up to two units to be ready in 2032.

Each generating unit will be a gas-fired, hydrogen-ready power plant expected to provide at least 600 megawatts (MW) of electricity, EMA said.

According to the Economic Development Board, 600MW is enough to power more than 864,000 four-room flats for a year.

Singapore has seen a steady increase in electricity demand over the years, partly driven by high-demand industrial and digital sectors, such as semiconductors and data centres, EMA added.

These sectors are expected to experience continued growth over the next few decades.

Based on EMA’s latest projections, Singapore’s power system peak demand is expected to grow by between 2.4 per cent and 4.8 per cent annually over the next decade.

By 2031, the peak demand is forecasted to reach between 9.6 gigawatts (GW) and 11.4GW.