<h1>Energy and Power Grid</h1>
<p>Singapore has no domestic oil, gas, or coal reserves and limited land for renewables, yet it runs one of the world's most reliable urban power systems. The Energy Market Authority (EMA) regulates the electricity and gas sectors, overseeing a liberalised market in which private generation companies produce power — overwhelmingly from imported natural gas — and compete every half-hour in the National Electricity Market of Singapore (NEMS). SP Group members own and operate the national transmission grid that delivers electricity island-wide, while retailers and SP Services supply contestable consumers under the Open Electricity Market. EMA's energy-transition strategy groups supply-side options into four "switches" — solar, regional power grids, low-carbon alternatives, and more efficient natural gas — alongside demand management, all framed under the wider <a href="/en/knowledge/article/sgkb.environment-sustainability.green-plan-2030">green plan 2030</a> net-zero trajectory (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/">EMA, accessed Aug 2026</a>; <a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/resources/corporate-publications/annual-sustainability-report-2024-2025/four-switches-for-sg-energy-transition">Four Switches, accessed Aug 2026</a>).</p>
<h2>EMA and the structure of the power system</h2>
<p>The Energy Market Authority is the statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry that oversees Singapore's electricity and piped-gas sectors. Its mandate is to ensure a reliable and secure energy supply, promote effective competition, and develop a dynamic energy industry (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/">EMA, accessed Aug 2026</a>). Unlike many countries where a single state utility owns generation, transmission, and retail, Singapore restructured its electricity industry progressively: generation and retail were opened to commercial players, a wholesale spot market was introduced, and households gained retailer choice when the Open Electricity Market completed its final phase in 2018 (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/our-energy-story/energy-market-landscape/electricity">EMA Electricity Market, accessed Aug 2026</a>). Power generation companies bid to sell electricity in the wholesale market every half-hour; the Energy Market Company (EMC) operates and administers NEMS; electricity retailers buy in bulk and compete on price plans; SP Services, a member of SP Group, is the Market Support Services Licensee handling meter reading, data management, and consumer transfers; and SP PowerAssets owns the transmission system while SP PowerGrid builds and maintains it on SP PowerAssets' behalf (<a href="https://www.openelectricitymarket.sg/about/market-overview">Open Electricity Market, accessed Aug 2026</a>; <a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/our-energy-story/energy-market-landscape/electricity">EMA Electricity Market, accessed Aug 2026</a>). Contestable consumers — essentially all households and businesses — may buy from a retailer, buy at half-hourly wholesale prices through SP Group, or remain on SP Group's regulated tariff; physical delivery always runs through the same national grid (<a href="https://www.openelectricitymarket.sg/about/market-overview">Open Electricity Market, accessed Aug 2026</a>). EMA licenses market participants, sets guardrails against wholesale price spikes — including a Temporary Price Cap acting as a circuit breaker — and, since 2023, runs a Centralised Process to tender new generation capacity when private investment alone might fall short of demand growth (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/our-energy-story/energy-market-landscape/electricity">EMA Electricity Market, accessed Aug 2026</a>).</p>
<h2>Natural gas and the electricity fuel mix</h2>
<p>The natural gas dominance of Singapore's electricity system is tied to imported gas. For any current answer, state the as-of date or period and the reference period for each dated fuel-mix percentage; the full-year 2024 and 1H 2025 series are not interchangeable.</p>
<p>Natural gas is the dominant fuel for electricity generation in Singapore because the city-state lacks domestic fossil resources and has narrow renewable options on its own land. EMA states that about 95% of electricity is generated using imported natural gas, which remains the bridge fuel while renewables and imports scale up (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/our-energy-story/energy-supply/natural-gas">EMA Natural Gas, accessed Aug 2026</a>). In the official fuel-mix statistics, natural gas accounted for 94.0% of gross electricity generation in 2024 and 93.1% in the first half of 2025; solar photovoltaic generation contributed 2.1% in 2024 and 2.5% in 1H 2025, while other energy products — municipal waste, biomass, and electricity imports — made up 2.7% in 2024 and 3.0% in 1H 2025; coal and petroleum products comprised the small remainder (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/resources/singapore-energy-statistics/chapter2">EMA SES Chapter 2, accessed Aug 2026</a>; <a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/content/dam/corporate/resources/statistics/files/pdf/Fuel-Mix-for-Electricity-Generation-Yearly.pdf.coredownload.pdf">Fuel Mix table, accessed Aug 2026</a>). Gross electricity output was about 60 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2024, up 2.5% from 2023, reflecting continued demand growth (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/resources/singapore-energy-statistics/chapter2">EMA SES Chapter 2, accessed Aug 2026</a>). Generation is concentrated in combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants, co-generation and tri-generation units, open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) for fast-start peaking, waste-to-energy plants tied to the incineration system described in <a href="/en/knowledge/article/sgkb.environment-sustainability.semakau-and-waste">semakau and waste</a>, and growing solar and import capacity. As of 1H 2025, registered generation capacity stood at 13,261 megawatts (MW), with CCGT and cogeneration at 81.3% of capacity in 2024, solar at 9.7% (1,367 MWac in 1H 2025), waste-to-energy at 2.8%, electricity imports at 2.4%, OCGTs at 2.1% (rising sharply after new units commissioned in 2025), and battery energy storage at 1.6% (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/resources/singapore-energy-statistics/chapter2">EMA SES Chapter 2, accessed Aug 2026</a>). Tuas Power Generation, Senoko Energy, and YTL PowerSeraya held a combined 51.4% of generation market share in 2024 (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/resources/singapore-energy-statistics/chapter2">EMA SES Chapter 2, accessed Aug 2026</a>). Singapore's average grid emission factor — CO₂ per kilowatt-hour of net generation — fell from 0.412 kg CO₂/kWh in 2023 to 0.402 kg CO₂/kWh in 2024, helped by a higher solar share and lower emissions intensities at power plants (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/resources/singapore-energy-statistics/chapter2">EMA SES Chapter 2, accessed Aug 2026</a>). Gas supply security is being strengthened through Singapore GasCo, established in April 2025 to centralise procurement for the power sector, and a planned second liquefied natural gas terminal at Jurong Port with about five million tonnes per annum throughput capacity expected this decade (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/resources/corporate-publications/annual-sustainability-report-2024-2025/four-switches-for-sg-energy-transition">Four Switches, accessed Aug 2026</a>). The <a href="/en/knowledge/article/sgkb.business-industry.petrochemicals-industry">energy and chemicals cluster</a> on Jurong Island is a major gas consumer alongside the power sector, linking electricity policy to industrial energy demand.</p>
<h2>Solar, storage, and domestic renewables</h2>
<p>Solar is Singapore's principal domestically harvestable renewable because the island sits near the equator with average annual solar irradiance of about 1,580 kWh/m²/year (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/our-energy-story/energy-supply/solar">EMA Solar, accessed Aug 2026</a>). Rooftop installations account for more than 80% of installed capacity, driven by government programmes — HDB's SolarNova, JTC's SolarRoof and SolarLand — and rising private adoption on commercial, industrial, and residential buildings (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/news-events/news/media-releases/2026/Singapore-to-Accelerate-Solar-Deployment-to-Meet-3-GWp-Solar-Target-by-2030">EMA solar release, accessed Aug 2026</a>). Singapore reached 2 gigawatt-peak (GWp) of installed solar capacity in 2025, meeting the earlier 2030 target five years early; on 2 March 2026 EMA raised the 2030 deployment target to 3 GWp, which could generate about 2,800 gigawatt-hours (GWh) per year — enough for roughly half a million households (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/news-events/news/media-releases/2026/Singapore-to-Accelerate-Solar-Deployment-to-Meet-3-GWp-Solar-Target-by-2030">EMA solar release, accessed Aug 2026</a>). Large installations include the 60 MWp Sembcorp Tengeh floating solar farm and smaller floating arrays at offshore spaces such as Woodlands (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/our-energy-story/energy-supply/solar">EMA Solar, accessed Aug 2026</a>). EMA emphasises that solar can realistically cover only around 10% of Singapore's projected energy needs by 2050, which is why domestic solar complements rather than replaces gas and imports (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/news-events/news/media-releases/2026/Singapore-to-Accelerate-Solar-Deployment-to-Meet-3-GWp-Solar-Target-by-2030">EMA solar release, accessed Aug 2026</a>). Solar intermittency is managed through forecasting models, energy storage systems registered in the capacity mix, and grid rules; EMA has deferred an Intermittency Pricing Mechanism while consulting on an enhanced version (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/our-energy-story/energy-supply/solar">EMA Solar, accessed Aug 2026</a>). The <a href="/en/knowledge/article/sgkb.environment-sustainability.green-plan-2030">green plan 2030</a> Energy Reset pillar tracks solar ambitions alongside building efficiency and cleaner vehicles; readers comparing targets should note that Green Plan web pages may lag EMA announcements — the 3 GWp March 2026 solar target and the around-6 GW by 2035 import target supersede older "at least 2 GWp" and "up to 4 GW" copy still visible on some Green Plan pages. Climate pledges and the carbon tax sit in <a href="/en/knowledge/article/sgkb.environment-sustainability.green-plan-2030">green plan 2030</a>; this article stays on the power system's fuel mix, market, and infrastructure.</p>
<h2>Regional electricity imports and cross-border grids</h2>
<p>EMA's current 6GW target for 2035 supersedes the older 4GW target framing; conditional approvals are not the same as commissioned imports.</p>
<p>Because domestic renewables cannot meet Singapore's full demand, EMA treats regional power grids as a core "switch" for accessing low-carbon electricity generated abroad. Singapore now aims to import around 6 gigawatts (GW) of low-carbon electricity by 2035 — about one-third of projected energy demand then — up from an initial 4 GW target set when the first large-scale import Request for Proposal closed in December 2023 (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/our-energy-story/energy-supply/regional-power-grids">EMA Regional Power Grids, accessed Aug 2026</a>). EMA has issued conditional approvals to 13 projects from Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam, and conditional licences to six projects that have made substantive progress (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/our-energy-story/energy-supply/regional-power-grids">EMA Regional Power Grids, accessed Aug 2026</a>). Pathfinder trials include the Lao PDR–Thailand–Malaysia–Singapore Power Integration Project (LTMS-PIP), the first multilateral ASEAN cross-border trade involving four countries: Phase 1 from June 2022 imported up to 100 MW of Lao hydropower wheeled through Thailand and Malaysia; Phase 2, enhanced in September 2024, doubled capacity to a maximum of 200 MW with multidirectional trade including up to 100 MW from Malaysia (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/our-energy-story/energy-supply/regional-power-grids">EMA Regional Power Grids, accessed Aug 2026</a>; <a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/resources/corporate-publications/annual-sustainability-report-2024-2025/four-switches-for-sg-energy-transition">Four Switches, accessed Aug 2026</a>). A separate Malaysia ENEGEM pilot saw Sembcorp Power import 50 MW of renewable electricity from Tenaga Nasional Berhad for two years from December 2024 (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/our-energy-story/energy-supply/regional-power-grids">EMA Regional Power Grids, accessed Aug 2026</a>). Singapore Energy Interconnections Pte Ltd (SGEI), established in April 2025, develops and operates cross-border interconnections; SP PowerInterconnect, an SP Group subsidiary, is its technical partner for landing infrastructure (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/our-energy-story/energy-supply/regional-power-grids">EMA Regional Power Grids, accessed Aug 2026</a>). Large import projects are not counted in EMA's firm supply projections until construction is underway, because regulatory approvals remain uncertain (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/content/dam/corporate/regulations/policy-papers/pdf-files/EMA-Regulations-Policies-Info-Paper-On-Electricity-Demand-And-Supply-Outlook-2025.pdf">EMA Outlook 2025, accessed Aug 2026</a>). EMA is also studying longer-horizon low-carbon options — ammonia for power and bunkering on Jurong Island, power-sector carbon capture and storage feasibility, advanced nuclear cooperation, and deep geothermal potential — as potential complements if they become viable (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/resources/corporate-publications/annual-sustainability-report-2024-2025/four-switches-for-sg-energy-transition">Four Switches, accessed Aug 2026</a>).</p>
<h2>The national grid, electricity market, and demand outlook</h2>
<p>Switching retailer changes billing and the electricity contract, not the physical national grid or the company operating it.</p>
<p>The national power grid transmits electricity from generators to consumers across Singapore at high reliability; SP PowerGrid operates it while retailers and SP Services handle billing and retail competition on top of the same physical network (<a href="https://www.openelectricitymarket.sg/about/market-overview">Open Electricity Market, accessed Aug 2026</a>). Wholesale prices in NEMS change every half-hour as generation companies bid against demand; retailers hedge most of their contract positions and compete on fixed-price or discount-off-tariff plans for households comparing offers on the Open Electricity Market price-comparison tools (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/our-energy-story/energy-market-landscape/electricity">EMA Electricity Market, accessed Aug 2026</a>). EMA strengthened retailer licensing after wholesale volatility — requiring tangible net worth, hedging of at least 80% of retail positions, performance bonds on unhedged exposure, and consumer protection when retailers exit (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/our-energy-story/energy-market-landscape/electricity">EMA Electricity Market, accessed Aug 2026</a>). An Electricity Futures Market on Singapore Exchange, launched in 2015, adds forward-price instruments for market participants (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/our-energy-story/energy-market-landscape/electricity">EMA Electricity Market, accessed Aug 2026</a>). On the demand side, EMA projects system peak demand to grow at a compound annual rate of roughly 2.4%–4.8% between 2025 and 2034, driven by economic activity, population, and electrification including data centres and electric vehicles (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/content/dam/corporate/regulations/policy-papers/pdf-files/EMA-Regulations-Policies-Info-Paper-On-Electricity-Demand-And-Supply-Outlook-2025.pdf">EMA Outlook 2025, accessed Aug 2026</a>). Fast-start OCGT units commissioned in 2025 by PacificLight Power and Meranti Power bolster peaking capacity, while new advanced CCGTs are tendered through the Centralised Process (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/our-energy-story/energy-supply/natural-gas">EMA Natural Gas, accessed Aug 2026</a>). EMA's Demand Response programme lets large consumers reduce load during tight supply periods; enhancements in October 2024 retained sandbox flexibilities and opened participation to battery storage, with the programme credited with over S$700 million in savings for electricity buyers between 2023 and mid-2024 (<a href="https://www.ema.gov.sg/resources/corporate-publications/annual-sustainability-report-2024-2025/four-switches-for-sg-energy-transition">Four Switches, accessed Aug 2026</a>). For residents, electricity is one component of <a href="/en/knowledge/article/sgkb.daily-life.cost-of-living">monthly household budgets</a> alongside <a href="/en/knowledge/article/sgkb.daily-life.telco-and-internet">home broadband</a>; desalination and NEWater in <a href="/en/knowledge/article/sgkb.environment-sustainability.water-story">water story</a> add energy-intensive demand that the power system must serve. Carbon pricing on large industrial emitters under the Carbon Pricing Act — detailed in <a href="/en/knowledge/article/sgkb.environment-sustainability.green-plan-2030">green plan 2030</a> and <a href="/en/knowledge/dataset/sgkb.data.annual-rates">annual rates</a> — sits alongside these market mechanics as the economy-wide signal to decarbonise generation and demand.</p>