Singapore starts importing renewable energy from Laos via Thailand and Malaysia

The development follows the execution of a power purchase agreement between Singapore’s Keppel Electric and Laos’ state-owned Electricite du Laos (EDL) back in September 2021.

Up to 100 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy will be imported via the Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore power integration project (LTMS-PIP). It is the first multilateral cross-border electricity trade involving four ASEAN countries, as well as and the first renewable energy import into Singapore, the EMA said.   

The imported power capacity equals about 1.5% of Singapore’s peak electricity demand in 2020, according to a local report said. 

William Stroll, energy expert at Pinsent Masons MPillay, the Singapore joint law venture between MPillay and Pinsent Masons, said: “Electricity imports are forming a key part of Singapore’s energy policy and will assist Singapore in meeting its COP 26 climate change pledges as well assisting with energy security.”

The LTMS-PIP is one of the trials that the EMA has been working on as part of its goal to import up to 4 gigawatts (GW) of low carbon electricity by 2035, which was announced in October 2021.

Keppel Electric is the first entity to receive a licence from the EMA as an electricity importer. The EMA also plans to import electricity from other sources.

In October 2021, the EMA announced that a Singapore-based power generation company, YTL PowerSeraya, and electricity retailers would conduct a two-year pilot project to import 100MW of electricity from Malaysia. The pilot is expected to start in 2022 however it is limited to conventional energy sources as a result of limitations imposed by the Malaysian government.