Debated in Parliament on 14 Feb 2022.
Miss Rachel Ong asked the Minister for Trade and Industry what measures will be taken to secure submarine infrastructure built for the import of renewable energy from Indonesia to Singapore, specifically from damage and disruptions to submarine cables from maritime activities in regional waters.
Importing low-carbon energy will be a key strategy in Singapore's energy transition in the near to medium term. In October 2021, the Energy Market Authority (EMA) announced that Singapore plans to import up to four gigawatts (GW) of low-carbon electricity by 2035, which will constitute around 30% of our electricity supply.
EMA will put in place the following measures to safeguard supply reliability.
First, electricity import proposals will be evaluated by EMA and international experts to ensure that the import projects are designed with a high level of security and reliability.
Second, penalties for supply disruptions and excessive restoration time will be imposed on electricity importers. This incentivises importers to enhance protection of the submarine cables, such as by providing additional redundancies in the form of extra cables, ensuring that there is regular maintenance and inspection of the cables, and expediting the repair of damaged cables to minimise disruptions to electricity supply. Within Singapore waters, it will also be an offence to damage any submarine electrical cable under section 85A of the Electricity Act.
Third, we will provide onshore backups, including energy storage systems and combined-cycle gas turbines, in the event of a protracted disruption.
EMA has also been working with importers on small-scale electricity import trials which will allow EMA to refine the technical and regulatory frameworks to ensure the security and reliability of large-scale electricity imports into Singapore in future.
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