Brighter power sector with solar energy

TO further diversify the energy mix here, Singapore is preparing the ground for renewable energy options, with solar power seemingly the most viable at this point. This comes as the power industry here is in a stable, steady state. With natural gas supplies already helping to fuel most of the electricity produced here, renewables (like solar, as it becomes commercially viable) are targeted, in the first instance, to meet up to 10 per cent of current peak electricity demand here.

The power industry here has indeed gone from famine to feast: total generating capacity is outpacing electricity demand growth. It has also gone "green". Supply of environment-friendly natural gas (the favoured fuel accounting for 85 per cent of the electricity generated here) is more than ample, with recently started global shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplementing what is expected to be diminishing piped gas supplies from neighbouring Indonesia and Malaysia.

Any earlier apprehensions about supply security following Temasek Holdings' sale of the three biggest gencos (Senoko Energy, YTL PowerSeraya and Tuas Power) to foreign owners have also all but evaporated. The trio hold over a three-quarters share of the electricity market here, and in coming months, yet another foreign-owned genco (PacificLight Power) will join them. The experience over the last four years (after the genco divestment) is that the increased intra-industry competition, plus efficiency gains from the power market's liberalisation, has helped moderate wholesale electricity price increases here.