Vietnam to export low-carbon electricity to Singapore

Singapore's energy regulator the Energy Market Authority (EMA) has granted conditional approval to Sembcorp Utilities Pte Ltd (SCU), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sembcorp Industries Ltd., to import 1.2GW of low-carbon electricity from Vietnam to Singapore.

Based on SCU’s proposal, the imported electricity will harness offshore wind power and potentially other forms of generation, to be developed with Petrovietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC). It will be transmitted from Vietnam to Singapore via new subsea cables that will span a distance of around 1,000km.

The conditional approval recognises that the project is preliminarily assessed by EMA to be technically and commercially viable. It facilitates SCU in obtaining necessary regulatory approvals and licences for the project. It also builds on the offshore wind site survey permit approval and Letter of Intent issued to the SCU-PTSC Consortium by the Vietnam and Singapore governments respectively in August 2023.

The progress made on this project is a positive development arising from the MoU on Energy Cooperation between Vietnam and Singapore, signed in October 2022, which reaffirmed both countries' commitment to support and facilitate clean energy transition efforts and regional decarbonisation, including greater cross-border electricity trading.

Singapore has plans to import up to 4GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035. To date, EMA has granted conditional approvals to projects from various sources, comprising 2GW from Indonesia, 1GW from Cambodia and 1.2GW from Vietnam. If realised, these projects will collectively tap into a diverse mix of solar energy, hydropower, and wind power.

To ensure reliability of supply, EMA has been working with importers to put in place sufficient safeguards against any prolonged supply disruptions. EMA will also continue to explore low-carbon alternatives such as geothermal, hydrogen and technologies such as carbon capture and storage to ensure that the power system remains secure, reliable and sustainable.

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