Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) has granted conditional approvals to two companies to import a combined 900 MW of electricity from Peninsular Malaysia to Singapore, generated from solar and battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Malaysia’s Johor.
Sembcorp Utilities received a conditional approval for 300 MW. Southern Solar Alliance, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysian developer Ditrolic Energy Holdings, received a conditional approval for 600 MW.
In a statement last Friday, the EMA, under Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, said both projects are targeting commercial operations around 2029. The two are subject to obtaining approvals from relevant jurisdictions, concluding power purchase agreements with buyers, securing financing, and meeting various project development milestones required to reach financial close.
The approvals bring EMA’s total conditional approvals and conditional licenses for electricity import projects to 13, covering projects from Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. The power sector accounts for 40 percent of Singapore’s carbon emissions, and low-carbon electricity imports form a key part of the country’s decarbonization strategy.
The two approvals follow earlier bilateral energy cooperation between Singapore and Malaysia, including a prior conditional approval to import 1 GW of low-carbon electricity from Sarawak to Singapore. Another cooperation is a Joint Development Agreement between Singapore Energy Interconnections, SP Group, and Tenaga Nasional Berhad to conduct feasibility studies for a second electricity interconnection of up to 2 GW between Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia.