Singapore clears 1.2 GW of clean electricity imports from Vietnam

The Energy Market Authority (EMA) of Singapore said today it has granted conditional approval to a fully-owned subsidiary of Sembcorp Industries Ltd (SGX:U96) to import 1.2 GW of low-carbon electricity, including offshore wind power, from Vietnam.

EMA has made a preliminary assessment of this project and has determined that it is technically and commercially viable. The conditional approval facilitates the process of obtaining the necessary regulatory nods and licences by Sembcorp Utilities Pte Ltd (SCU).

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The Sembcorp unit’s proposal is to import electricity from offshore wind projects and other forms of generation that will be developed alongside Petrovietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC), a member of Vietnam Oil and Gas Group. Sembcorp’s plan to partner with PTSC for the development of offshore wind projects in Vietnam was unveiled earlier this year.

According to EMA, the electricity will be transmitted from Vietnam to Singapore via 1,000 km of new subsea cables. It noted that it will continue to explore low-carbon alternatives like geothermal and hydrogen, and technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) to ensure the security and reliability of the power system.

Singapore’s objective is to import up to 4 GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035. Before this latest announcement, EMA granted conditional approvals for the import of 2 GW from Indonesia and 1 GW from Cambodia.