KEPPEL, along with a consortium with Mitsubishi Power Asia-Pacific and Jurong Engineering, broke ground on Wednesday (Jul 19) for Singapore’s first hydrogen-ready co-generation plant.  

The Business Times understands that this is the first power plant to be announced in Singapore in seven years.

The last power plant to open prior to this was Tuaspring power station – which was commissioned and operational in 2016.

Located in the Sakra sector of Jurong Island, the Keppel Sakra Cogen (KSC) Plant will be a 600 MW advanced combined-cycle gas-turbine power plant, the three companies said.

The plant is expected to be completed in H1 2026, and will reportedly be the “most energy efficient” among the operating fleet in Singapore, with lower emission intensity and higher operation flexibility.

Keppel is an investor in the project, and had awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to a consortium comprising Mitsubishi Power Asia-Pacific and Jurong Engineering for the construction of the plant.

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The groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday was officiated by Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng; chief executive officer of the Energy Market Authority (EMA) Ngiam Shih Chun; chairman of Keppel Danny Teoh; CEO of Keppel Loh Chin Hua; and CEO of Keppel Infrastructure Cindy Lim. 

In a speech at the ceremony, Tan noted that Singapore’s power system has been in an “overcapacity situation” over the last decade due to “over-bullish investments” by power generation companies.

“Over the years, as electricity demand has grown and older generation plants have retired, our reserve margin has come down,” said Tan.

Tan said this margin will hit 27 per cent by 2025 – which is the margin needed to ensure grid reliability, given Singapore’s current portfolio of generation sources.

Between 2023 and 2028, Tan said EMA expects electricity demand to grow by at least 4 per cent each year, largely driven by new investments in energy-intensive sectors such as advanced manufacturing and data centres.

“We will need more generation capacity to meet the demand growth and to replace retiring generating units,” he said.

The KSC plant can co-fire with 30 per cent hydrogen content, and can also run entirely on hydrogen, in line with the decarbonisation of Singapore’s power sector.

As a combined-cycle gas-turbine power plant, it can also produce steam for use in industrial processes by its energy and chemical customers on Jurong Island. 

The groundbreaking of the plant comes on the back of Singapore identifying hydrogen as a major decarbonisation pathway, in support of the country’s international climate commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Operating initially on natural gas as a primary fuel, the KSC plant is envisaged to be able to save up to 220,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, compared to Singapore’s average operating efficiency for the equivalent power generated. 

Such savings in carbon dioxide are equivalent to taking about 47,000 cars off the road each year. 

Keppel Infrastructure’s Lim said the KSC plant represents a “decisive step” by Keppel to invest in best-in-class power-generation technology, and to pivot to low-carbon solutions for power generation.

“To this end, Keppel is also working with international partners on low-carbon hydrogen, and hydrogen-derived fuels such as green ammonia, to support the decarbonisation of the energy and chemical industries, as well as the maritime and aviation sectors,” she said.

EMA’s Ngiam said that as electricity demand continues to rise, Singapore will need more generation capacity while ensuring the power sector transitions to a net-zero future. 

“The hydrogen-ready KSC plant is a good example of the infrastructure we need, and we encourage other generation companies to make similar investments,” he added. 

Keppel has been operating a 1,300 MW combined-cycle gas-turbine generation facility on Jurong Island since 2007. The plant began with a generation capacity of 500 MW and added another 800 MW in 2013.