Singapore will add a further S$5bn ($3.7bn) to its clean energy fund, and is also studying the potential for nuclear deployment, said the country's prime minister Lawrence Wong on 18 February.
Singapore's Future Energy Fund was set up in 2024 with an initial injection of S$5bn to develop clean energy options.
Expanding access to clean energy is a major national imperative as "the industries of the future," such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors, are highly energy intensive, said Wong at the unveiling of the country's budget for 2025. "Be it electricity imports, hydrogen or nuclear, we need to make major investments in new infrastructure," said Wong.
A short-term solution is to import low-carbon electricity from the region. Singapore expects about a third of its projected electricity demand in 2035 to be met through electricity imports, according to Wong. The country aims to import 6GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035, and has signed supply agreements with Malaysia, as well as granted conditional approvals to projects in Indonesia.
But Singapore needs to have its own domestic sources of clean power, said Wong.
Singapore has been evaluating the use of low-carbon hydrogen for power, "but there are inherent challenges in the production, storage and transportation of hydrogen, which make it hard to scale up in a commercially viable manner," Wong added.
Nuclear power could be another option. Singapore had considered the possibility of developing nuclear power in 2010, but assessed that conventional nuclear technologies were not suitable. Since then, there have been significant advancements in nuclear technologies such as small modular reactors (SMRs), which have better safety features than conventional reactors, said Wong.
Interest in nuclear energy is also rising in the region, with several countries planning to include it in their energy mixes, such as Indonesia and the Philippines. Singapore has signed agreements with the US on civil nuclear co-operation, and is working on similar collaborations with other countries that have capabilities and experience, especially with SMRs, said Wong.
Singapore submitted its new emissions reduction target on 10 February, aiming to reduce emissions to 45mn-50mn of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) in 2035 as part of its nationally determined contribution.
Singapore aims to decarbonise its transport sector, which currently accounts for about 15pc of total emissions, in line with its emissions reduction goals. Singapore will introduce a new heavy vehicle zero emission scheme and a heavy electric vehicle (EV) charger grant to accelerate the adoption of cleaner heavy vehicles. The grant will provide incentives for the purchase of heavy EVs and co-funding of charging infrastructure, said Wong.
