Southeast Asian Energy Transition Plans Singapore

Singapore’s energy mix is composed of 97 percent oil and gas, 2 percent bioenergy, 1 percent coal, and 1 percent solar. Southeast Asia’s smallest but richest country has ambitious plans to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and peak emissions before 2030. Singapore is the only Southeast Asian country predicted to achieve an emissions reduction in 2030 compared to 2019 levels, though it has readily acknowledged that the success of its energy transition is contingent on international cooperation and technological advances.

Solar power is expected to supply 28 percent of peak power demand by 2030. The city-state’s biggest challenges are land scarcity and a lack of other renewable sources, which eliminates the possibility of significantly deploying nuclear, geothermal, or hydroelectric power. Below-average wind speeds and the lack of offshore wind opportunities have made solar power the most viable and efficient renewable energy option for Singapore. In July 2021, Singapore unveiled one of the world’s largest floating solar farms, which aims to produce electricity for powering the city-state’s five water treatment plants and is part of the government’s plans to quadruple solar energy production by 2025. Another component of its energy transition plan is a national hydrogen strategy that could enable hydrogen to supply 50 percent of Singapore’s power needs by 2050, contingent on technological developments. The power sector currently accounts for around 40 percent of the state’s carbon emissions.