EMA grants conditional licence to RGE, TotalEnergies' Indonesian solar project for electricity import to Singapore
[SINGAPORE] The Energy Market Authority (EMA) on Friday (May 30) granted a conditional licence to Singa Renewables, a joint venture between RGE and TotalEnergies, to import 1 gigawatt (GW) of low-carbon electricity from Indonesia to Singapore.
EMA chief executive Puah Kok Keong presented the licence to the joint venture.
Eric Lombard, France's minister of the economy, finance and industry, attended the presentation. This was in conjunction with France President Emmanuel Macron's state visit to Singapore. Dr Tan See Leng, minister-in-charge of energy and science and technology, was also present.
Imelda Tanoto, managing director at RGE, said the conditional licence was a key milestone, affirming its role in advancing the region's decarbonisation goals.
This is the sixth electricity import project to be awarded a conditional licence, after EMA in September 2024 raised the low-carbon electricity import target to around 6 GW by 2035, up from the initial target of 4 GW announced in 2021. This is a part of Singapore's strategy to decarbonise the power sector.
When the obligations in the conditional licences are fulfilled – which includes securing all necessary financing – EMA may subsequently issue the companies an electricity importer licence to commence construction and commercial operations.
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Singa Renewables, which aims to achieve commercial operations from 2029 onwards, received conditional approval from EMA in September 2024.
Faith Gan, director of energy connections office at EMA, told The Business Times that the government would be open to more electricity imports beyond 6 GW as Singapore's energy demand grows beyond 2035.
'To date, EMA has granted 3 GW of conditional licences for electricity imports from Indonesia, as well as 4.35 GW of conditional approvals for electricity imports comprising 0.4 GW from Indonesia, 1 GW from Cambodia, 1.2 GW from Vietnam and 1.75 GW from Australia,' she added, highlighting different operational timelines for the projects.
Gan noted that not all projects awarded conditional approvals or conditional licences will be implemented, as the importers make business decisions on whether to proceed with their plans, after more detailed analysis.
EMA's Puah said: 'This (conditional) licence marks another step forward in our efforts to transform the power sector and deepen regional energy cooperation.'
While electricity import projects help diversify Singapore's energy supply and reduce carbon emissions, they also bring in investment, create jobs and contribute to the growth of the clean energy sector in partner countries such as Indonesia, he added.
Singapore-headquartered RGE and France's TotalEnergies on Wednesday also signed a co-investment agreement for a solar photovoltaic plant with integrated battery energy storage under Singa Renewables.
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