Singapore eyes push for renewables in clean energy import drive

SINGAPORE'S power players are getting zealous on clean energy imports - a game-changer for the city-state's climate goals - even as the first of this big pivot could happen as soon as three months; that is, if a plan to import solar power from Malaysia works out to schedule.

Two key factors make renewable energy imports by Singapore, pressed for land and resources, a no-brainer - growing energy demand, which has recovered to pre-pandemic levels owing partly to industries with an insatiable appetite for power such as data centres, electric vehicles and agri-tech; and the urgency to cut carbon emissions as pledged under the Paris Agreement.

"These two reasons have given us a strong push to look at opportunities to explore and look for partners to import from other countries," Tuas Power chief operating officer Michael Wong told The Business Times.