Singapore has started importing renewable energy from Laos via Thailand and Malaysia under the Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project (LTMS-PIP), marking the first multilateral cross-border electricity trading involving four ASEAN nations and the first renewable energy import into Singapore.
Under a two-year power purchase deal signed between Keppel Electric and Laos’ state-owned Électricité du Laos (EDL), Singapore has received 100 MW of renewable hydropower last week, which represents roughly 1.5% of Singapore’s peak electricity demand in 2020, or enough to power approximately 144,000 four-room HDB flats for a year.
According to the authorities, the project will benefit all four nations participating in the project by allowing the creation of a regional market for energy trading, promoting investments, and improving regional electricity supply security and cost competitiveness.
By utilizing the region’s abundance of renewable energy, the project will also help Singapore to attain its sustainability goals under the Green Plan 2030, which includes decarbonizing the power industry and diversifying its energy supply sources to improve security.
The LTMS-PIP is one of the trials conducted by Singapore’s Energy Market Authority as part of the country’s target of importing up to 4 gigawatts of low-carbon power by 2035, which will account for approximately 30% of the country’s electricity supply in a year.
The agencies remarked that the LTMS-PIP project serves as a “pathfinder” toward realizing the greater aim of an ASEAN power grid (APG).
An APG would facilitate multilateral electricity trade beyond the region’s neighboring countries. It is described as a critical regional effort to improve interconnectivity, energy security, and sustainability through existing power linkages.
“Interconnected power grids can hasten the deployment of renewable energy, boost supply diversification, and improve grid stability across the region,” said Ngiam Shih Chun, chief executive of the EMA.
Daovong Phonekeo, the Laotian Minister of Energy and Mines, added that Laos sees itself as a significant supporter of renewable energy in the region and will continue to support the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community as well as the ASEAN Power Grid.
