Shortfall in Gas Supply from Sumatra and Impact on Businesses and Residents

Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Trade and Industry in view of the gas supply from Sumatra being set to fall from 2023 (a) how will this affect businesses and residents; (b) what sources will the Ministry tap on to make up for this shortfall in supply; and (c) what is the uptake rate for EMA’s Request-for-Proposal to import electricity.

While our Piped Natural Gas (PNG) supply from Indonesia will decline from 2023, this will not affect consumers’ electricity supply. Our Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal has sufficient capacity to meet all of Singapore’s gas needs on its own. Singapore’s gas users can buy gas from multiple gas suppliers, including term LNG importers, which can supply LNG to gas users under Gas Sales Agreements with durations of one year or longer.

To safeguard our energy security in the longer term, we will continue to diversify our energy sources, such as by maximising solar deployment and importing low-carbon electricity from the region. The Energy Market Authority has launched Request for Proposals (RFPs) for electricity import projects and has received more than 20 proposals to import electricity from five countries – Australia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia and Thailand. We remain on track to meet our electricity import target of 4GW by 2035. Collectively, these measures will reduce our reliance on natural gas and make our power system more resilient.