SINGAPORE: It is “technically viable” for Singapore’s power sector to achieve net-zero emissions and aspirations to do so by 2050 are “realistic”, an expert committee tasked to examine the future of the country’s energy system said in a report released on Tuesday (Mar 22).
To achieve that, “transformational changes” will have to be made to the entire energy value chain – from supply and demand to the development of the country’s power grid.
For example, Singapore must diversify its energy supply by having more electricity imports and using low-carbon hydrogen for power generation, as part of nine recommended strategies laid out in the 56-page report.
However, the committee noted that the process of reaching net zero will be challenging given the uncertainty of technology and geo-economic trends, as well as Singapore’s limited renewable energy potential.
There will inevitably be trade-offs, such as an increase in cost, it said.
The Energy 2050 committee, which consists of nine experts from the private and public sectors, was commissioned by the Energy Market Authority (EMA) more than a year ago to study long-term trends that will affect Singapore’s energy sector and provide authorities with recommendations for the future.
These trends include how electricity demand will rise in the coming decades due to economic growth, digitalisation, and electrification of transport and some other sectors.
Solar power generation and battery energy storage systems are also set to become cheaper and more efficient, while distributed energy resources like solar generation systems and electric vehicles are likely to proliferate hence affecting how the power grid is to be managed.
In coming up with its proposals, the committee – chaired by Mr Choi Shing Kwok, director and chief executive officer of the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute – noted that it was “not possible to craft a single definitive long-term strategy” given how complex the energy transition will be.
It therefore adopted a “scenario-based approach” where it came up with three plausible scenarios of what a decarbonised Singapore power sector may look like in 2050.
The scenarios differ on how long the world takes to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic which in turn affects the geopolitical environment and technological advancements.