Sustainable energy transformation requires continued action. Our correspondent Goh Chia Jin reports on insights speakers and delegates provided about this topic at the Singapore Energy Summit.
At the Singapore Energy Summit (SES)’s keynote address, H.E. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), focused on three key areas – (1) Asia Pacific’s regional cooperation to overcome energy challenges, (2) the need to share energy data through the Asia-Pacific Energy Portal and (3) energy connectivity among the region’s power grids. “[The] Asia Pacific region’s energy needs are continuously growing in line with increasing economic activities, and the energy demand in the Asia Pacific has almost doubled since 2000,” she stated. In addition, she emphasised that the “dependence on fossil fuels to meet the extraordinary demand growth cannot persist for the next phase of energy development,” and new technologies and solutions have to be immediately explored.
His Excellency (H.E.) Eng Awaidha Murshed Ali Al Marar, Chairman, Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, United Arab Emirates (UAE), shared that Abu Dhabi is committed to pioneering a paradigm shift towards renewable and clean forms of energy, which was one of the key factors in the establishment of the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy. Abu Dhabi’s approach is “outlined in the UAE Energy Strategy 2050, the UAE’s first unified energy strategy based on supply and demand. Launched in 2017, the strategy aims to increase the contribution of clean energy in the total energy mix to five per cent by 2050, reduce the carbon footprint of power generation by 70 per cent and increase consumption efficiency by 40 per cent.”
In the session “Transformation – Accelerating Action,” panelists were asked how to accelerate the transformation needed to ensure a more sustainable energy future. Dr. Koh Poh Koon, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry, described “Singapore as a city that is always transforming and changing.” In making sure that the transformation is efficient, orderly and well-considered, especially in brownfield sites, Singapore has to “look at the long-term perspectives, taking into account infrastructure planning that has to build in solutions that are sustainable for the longer term.”
When asked what has to be done in Malaysia, H.E. Yeo Bee Yin, Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change, Malaysia, opined that energy transition is not solely about de-carbonisation; but rather, it is about “balancing the components of the energy trilemma – security, affordability and sustainability.” To scale up renewable energy deployment in a sustainable manner, new policies introduced have to ensure that technical specifications or requirements make affordable sense for businesses.
H.E. Eng Awaidha Murshed Ali Al Marar spoke about the challenges of fast deployment of renewable energy, which includes 2GWp of solar almost every year in Abu Dhabi. In particular, he expressed that “these challenges were faced all over the world and we have to learn from each other.”
Speaking from his experiences in China, Han Jun, Executive Vice President, State Grid Corporation of China, conveyed, “it does not matter whether we are a small or large country, we can all contribute to sustainable energy.”
From the perspective of the gas industry, Martin J Houston, Vice Chairman, Tellurian, testified to the benefits of a partnership between gas and renewable for a low carbon economy, and reminded the industry “it is our responsibility to reduce carbon in everything we do”.