How Singapore can achieve its 4GW renewable target by 2035

High cost and land constraints remain challenges to the country's lower carbon power transition.

Singapore can achieve its goal of importing four gigawatts (GW) of low-carbon power by 2035, according to data and analytics company Wood Mackenzie.

In its "Singapore’s Quest for Renewable Power" report, Wood Mackenzie recommended that Singapore import electricity from Peninsular Malaysia’s large-scale solar and battery energy storage systems or Sarawak’s hydropower due to the relatively lower transmission costs associated with these options against other potential markets.

Singapore can also source wind power with battery storage from Vietnam and the Philippines, but exporting this energy to the country would be prohibitively expensive.

Wood Mackenzie expects Malaysia's total capacity of utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar power installations to reach above five gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2023.

Vietnam and the Philippines, on the other hand, are likely to reach a total utility PV fleet of above eight GW and above four GW, respectively.
Generally, Southeast Asia possesses a largely untapped solar energy potential, with every nation in the region, except Brunei, having a theoretical capacity exceeding 100 GW.

In its transition from gas to lower carbon power, the expert said Singapore will face challenges such as the high-cost nature of the power market and land constraints.

Within Asia-Pacific, Singapore has the highest end-user tariff at around US$200 per megawatt-hour (MWh).

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