ACES: 3 Pillars to Advance Towards a Net Zero Economy

Singapore’s framework towards a sustainable, net zero economy encompasses accelerating the deployment of renewable energy, cross-border collaboration to facilitate clean energy trade, and boosting local clean energy manpower capabilities. Aishwaryaa Kumar reports.

Dr Tan See Leng, Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry, addressed audiences at the Asia Clean Energy Summit (ACES) by emphasising on the pressing need to reduce overall global emissions in the coming decades.

In his keynote speech, he noted that while countries have identified their individual energy commitments, the total overall global commitment is still insufficient to mitigate the potent effects of climate change. Hence, with concerted effort, a more meaningful outcome of this transition can be achieved.

Referencing the International Energy Agency (IEA) World Energy Outlook report, he commented that Asia has the potential to triple its current renewable energy generation from 3.3TWh to 8.6TWh by 2030. This corresponds to a significant carbon emissions reduction and decarbonisation of Asia's energy sector.

Here, he shared the 3-pillar framework to support the energy transition.

1^st Pillar: Accelerate deployment of renewable energy

As renewable energy makes up only 10% of Asia’s total energy supply, it is imperative to increase its deployment so that countries can replace their existing energy supply with cleaner energy sources.

Singapore is doing its part to accelerate solar deployment efforts by maximising solar potential across the country to achieve a capacity of 1.5GWp by 2025 and 2GWp by 2030.

The country, with the help of various solar companies, has become the world’s most solar-dense nation in the world. Singapore will continue to explore more ways to deploy more solar in unconventional sites in its highly urbanised environment.

Given solar's intermittency challenges, Energy Storage System (ESS) is a game-changer that can address this issue and also enhance grid resilience. Towards this end, Dr Tan updated that the 200MW/200MWh ESS by Sembcorp Industries is undergoing commissioning tests to achieve commercial operations by end November. Once operational, this will be the largest ESS deployed in Southeast Asia and the fastest of its size.

2^nd Pillar: Collaborate across borders to facilitate clean energy trade

With the transition to clean energy sources, there will be a fundamental shift in energy supply chains. Hence, countries rich in renewable energy potential will be able to export energy via interconnectors. To achieve this, energy collaboration and services between countries will need to be strengthened to facilitate clean energy trade across the region and the world.

Though Southeast Asia is brimming with renewable energy potential, heavy capital investments are needed to finance such projects given the hurdles in transmitting this renewable energy across borders. Cross-border trade will help to make energy trades more commercially viable within the region.

To facilitate such endeavours, governments should establish regulatory frameworks and create an ecosystem to provide more assurances for cross-border energy trade. Partnerships will also be required to ease project developments, such as regional power grids and cross-border electricity grid interconnections.

In keeping with this, Dr Tan announced the successful completion of the upgrade of the Malaysia-Singapore interconnectors. The upgrade has doubled the interconnectors’ original capacity to accommodate bidirectional electricity flows of around 1,000 megawatts between the two countries. Additionally, he said the enhancement has allowed Singapore to support the Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project (LTMS-PIP) cross-border power trade project.

Dr Tan also shared that Singapore is partnering with the US on a Feasibility Study on Regional Energy Connectivity in Southeast Asia. The study will assess the benefits, technical feasibility, and economic viability of developing a regional power grid network comprising both land and sea-based interconnections in Southeast Asia.

3^rd Pillar: Grow local clean energy companies and build manpower capabilities

Dr Tan emphasised that countries need to look into building their own local clean energy companies as they develop strategies to decarbonise the energy sector.

A study by the Energy Market Authority of Singapore (EMA) has shown that there will be growth in solar, ESS and smart grids during this transition towards greater sustainability. This will help to bring about more investment opportunities and create jobs for locals. Dr Tan urged that these companies should therefore invest heavily into their employees’ training and development.

EMA has also collaborated with the National Trades Union Congress to identify key challenges faced by clean energy companies. This is to prepare for Singapore's energy transition and kickstart the development of an Operations Technology Roadmap for the clean energy sector.

This collaboration aims to propose suggestions on how business environments can be enhanced and to anticipate skills that are needed to co-create energy solutions to meet national energy needs. EMA will continue to work with government agencies and industry partners to better understand the manpower needs of clean energy, and implement initiatives to upskill in this mammoth transition.

In conclusion, the clean energy sector can benefit from many exciting opportunities as countries embark on a global and regional energy transition. Countries need to work together and press on in addressing climate change and creating a sustainable energy future.

Opening Speech by Er Edwin Khew, Chairman of the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore

Mr Khew had earlier launched ACES, held in conjunction with SIEW 2022. In his opening speech, he said ACES 2022 focuses on big impacts and opportunities for a smoother clean energy transition towards the net zero implementation of a sustainable economy.

As climate change remains an existential threat to mankind, inter-governmental organisations will need to focus on four tracks to achieve this. These are namely solar and storage, electric mobility, efficient hydrogen energy, and the facilitation of discussions and exhibitions of offshore wind and utilities which are cheaper than newfound electricity generation and supply.

Mr Khew quoted Bloomberg’s finance report which said solar is now cheaper than coal in many ASEAN countries. This will help with the urgency to transit towards renewable energy and new technology across all geographies in Asia and Southeast Asia. Startups are also instrumental in bringing in innovation and disruptive solutions needed for this effort to be fruitful.

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