Natural Gas
Even with that research, natural gas will continue to be a dominant fuel for electricity generation in Singapore in the immediate future – something noted by the nation’s Energy Market Authority (EMA). In June 2024 the EMA called for proposals from the public sector to build, own and operate two new power plants to be up and running in 2029 and 2030.
Singapore established a new state buyer, GasCo, in 2025 to centralise the country’s gas procurement and supply.
Renewable Energy In Singapore
With limited possibilities for wind or tidal energy and the potential of geothermal energy still being investigated, Singapore’s renewable energy aspirations are primarily focused on solar power. By 2030 Singapore, hopes to achieve at least 2 gigawatt-peak (GWp) of installed solar capacity, meeting the annual electricity needs of around 350,000 households.
Because of Singapore’s heavy urbanisation and small geographic size, innovation is a necessity for its investments in solar power.
Sembcorp’s Tengeh Floating Solar Farm is one of the world’s largest inland floating solar photovoltaic systems, comprising 122,000 solar panels across a land area spanning about 45 football fields. An offshore floating solar PV system at Woodlands is also expected to provide up to 6,022,500 kilo-watt hours (kWh) of energy per year.
Singapore’s inventive approach to solar includes placing systems on rooftops of government buildings and public housing, using temporarily vacant land for modular installations and encouraging the inclusion of solar panels in roofs, facades and windows of buildings.
The Singaporean Government is also looking to neighbouring countries for low-carbon electricity and by 2035 aims for capacity of 4GW, making up about 30% of its projected electricity supply.
Conditional approval has so far been granted to import 1 GW from Cambodia, 2 GW from Indonesia and 1.2 GW from Vietnam. Trial activities have included importing hydropower from Laos (via Thailand and Malaysia) and electricity from Malaysia.
In transport, Singapore aims to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040 in favour of electric vehicles – although, as has been the case for many countries, take-up rates have so far lagged behind aspirations. Under the Singapore Green Plan 2030, only cleaner energy model cars and taxis will be able to be licensed as new vehicles.
A feasibility study on nuclear energy conducted from 2010-2012 concluded that it is not yet suitable for deployment in Singapore. However, the EMA has said that it will continue to monitor small modular reactors, around safety, reliability, affordability and environmental sustainability factors.
In contrast to nuclear energy, hydrogen looks increasingly like having a significant role to play in electricity generation in Singapore in decades to come. Singapore’s National Hydrogen Strategy, launched in October 2022, noted the potential for hydrogen to supply half of all power needs by 2050.
The two new gas-fired power plants Singapore is targeting by the end of the decade would both be hydrogen-ready, meaning there would be minimum of nine hydrogen-ready plants in the country by 2030.
Carbon Capture
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is emerging strongly as a key element of Singapore’s long-term decarbonisation plans. Singapore has signed a letter of intent to collaborate with Indonesia on cross-border CCS opportunities and an S-Hub Consortium (which includes ANGEA member ExxonMobil) has been selected to lead development of a cross-border CCS project.
Cross-border CO2 transactions are essential for advancing CCS in Singapore, which lacks geological storage space of its own.
