S'pore wholesale electricity prices fall in 2013

[SINGAPORE] The Republic's wholesale electricity prices retreated after three straight years of increase, falling 22.1 per cent last year - the biggest year-on-year decline ever - while the combined market share of the three biggest gencos here slipped to 69.7 per cent, the first time it has fallen below 75 per cent.

"2013 was a significant year," said Energy Market Company (EMC) chairman Wong Meng Meng in the wholesale electricity market operator's just-released annual market report, as the developments reflected "an effective competitive market and demonstrated the real benefits that liberalised electricity markets can offer".

The fall in wholesale electricity prices - as measured by the Uniform Singapore Energy Price - to $173 per megawatt-hour, arose largely from a surge in electricity supply. New gas-fired plantings - spurred by availability of global gas shipments at the new Singapore LNG terminal - saw total registered generating capacity here spike 14.9 per cent to an all-time high of 12,422 MW last year.