Singapore-Laos-Thailand-Malaysia Power Integration Project Enters Phase 2
1. Expanding Power Import According to a joint press release by the Energy Market Authority (EMA) of Singapore and Keppel Corporation on September 20, 2024, the second phase of the Singapore-Laos-Thailand-Malaysia power integration project is underway. Power imports from Laos will double from 100 megawatts to 200 megawatts, paving the way for the establishment of an ASEAN power grid.
2. Project Overview Launched in June 2022, the Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project initially involved importing 100 megawatts of electricity from Laos via Thailand and Malaysia’s networks. In the second phase, an additional 100 megawatts, including renewable energy, will be imported from Malaysia.
3. Keppel’s Extended License To support the second phase of the project, EMA has extended Keppel Corporation’s power importer license until 2026. Besides importing electricity from Laos, Keppel will become the first company in Singapore to import electricity from Malaysia. This power integration project marks the first multilateral cross-border renewable energy trade among ASEAN member states.
4. Enhanced Import Target EMA previously announced in September 2024 that it would increase Singapore’s power import target to 6,000 megawatts of low-carbon electricity by 2035, accounting for about one-third of the country’s total supply. This is 50% higher than the 4,000 megawatts target set in 2021.
5. Significance of the Project While the electricity imported through this project constitutes only about 3% of Singapore’s import target, it is significant in paving the way for multilateral power trade. Most of Singapore’s announced power import projects to date have been bilateral, involving solar, hydropower, and wind energy from countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, and Cambodia.
6. Building the ASEAN Power Grid Pan Chunqiang, chief executive of EMA, highlighted the crucial role of this power integration project in building the ASEAN power grid and establishing the ASEAN Economic Community. The project creates opportunities for multilateral and multi-directional power trade in the ASEAN region, enhances the resilience of regional power grids, promotes energy integration, and meets the region’s growing electricity demand.
7. Challenges and Opportunities Oh Ei Sun, Senior Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, noted that multilateral power trade is more complex than bilateral trade, involving more stakeholders. Therefore, consensus on standards such as transmission tariffs needs to be reached. Once countries reach a consensus on various standards, a power market covering the ASEAN region can be established to realize the ASEAN power grid in the future.
