Singapore could soon receive 1 gigawatt (GW) of electricity from Cambodia, harnessed from solar, wind and hydropower. The imported electricity would be transmitted via new subsea cables of more than 1,000km in length, and would mark the republic’s largest renewable energy import.

This builds on the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on energy cooperation between the two countries, signed in October 2022.

In a first, the Energy Market Authority (EMA) has granted conditional approval to Keppel Energy for this project.

This label is awarded to participants whose projects have been preliminarily assessed as technically and commercially viable, announced the regulator on March 16. “Such approvals provide recognition to the projects and help facilitate the participants in conducting further studies and securing regulatory approvals from the source and transit countries. EMA may subsequently issue these participants conditional licences if their proposals meet the requirements set out in the conditional approval.”

Based on Keppel Energy’s proposal, the imported electricity will harness solar energy, hydropower and potentially wind power, supported by battery energy storage systems or pumped storage hydropower.

The project is reportedly expected to begin after 2030.

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Singapore plans to import up to 4GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035, comprising around 30% of its electricity supply. In July 2022, EMA issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for plans to enable electricity imports. EMA says it will continue to review the other proposals and plans to grant more conditional approvals before the RFP closes in December.

Regional power grids can accelerate renewable energy development in the region and facilitate economic growth, while diversifying energy sources away from fossil fuels, says EMA.

Singapore and Indonesia signed a MOU on renewable energy cooperation on March 16. “The MOU, together with the conditional approval for the import of electricity from Cambodia, mark a significant step forward in regional collaboration to enhance energy security, increase access to reliable, clean energy, as well as stimulate economic growth,” says EMA.

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These two developments are important steps towards the Asean Power Grid vision, following the successful implementation of the Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project (LTMS-PIP) in June 2022, which sees Singapore importing up to 100 megawatt (MW) of renewable hydropower from Lao PDR via Thailand and Malaysia.

As at 9.55am, shares in Keppel Corp are trading flat at $5.32.

EMA grants Keppel Energy conditional approval for Cambodia renewable energy import project

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