Plan to import electricity silent on exports [News]

By Ronnie Lim, The Business Times, 19 Dec 2011.

Singapore’s plan to import electricity – as set out in a consultation paper by the Energy Market Authority last week – is currently a one-way document which does not present the possibility for gencos here to export spare electricity to neighbouring countries as well.

It covers, for instance, the issue of licensing for authorised importers, but is silent on exports.

PowerSeraya – which in May this year did the first commercial power sales to Malaysia’s Tenaga Nasional – could only do so after getting an ‘exemption’ from the EMA under Singapore’s Electricity Act, and following approval from the Trade & Industry Minister.

EMA’s proposed electricity imports of up to 600 megawatts per source country, which is quite sizeable, should also not undermine the billions of dollars in investments here, by both foreign and local corporations, in power generating capacity, industry officials here say. Read more

Move afoot to integrate S’pore power, gas markets [News]

By Ronnie Lim, The Business Times, 15 Oct 2011.

With LNG imports here set to be fully liberalised even before the scheduled first LNG deliveries to the Jurong Island LNG terminal in mid-2013, discussions are underway on the possibility of integrating Singapore’s electricity and gas markets, said Energy Market Company (EMC) CEO Dave Carlson.

The move makes sense as 80 per cent of Singapore’s electricity is currently generated using natural gas feedstock, with the coming LNG supplies helping gencos here to diversify beyond just piped gas supplies from Malaysia and Indonesia.

‘There is a good dialogue taking place between EMC (which operates Singapore’s wholesale electricity market), regulator Energy Market Authority (EMA) and PowerGas (which operates the gas transportation network),’ Mr Carlson said yesterday. ‘But there are no decisions made at this point of time, although the arrival of liquefied natural gas in mid-2013 gives us enough time to plan well in advance about the benefits from integrating the two markets.’ Read more

Launch of the Inaugural Singapore Energy Statistics [Press Releases]

The Energy Market Authority (EMA) today released the inaugural Singapore Energy Statistics (SES) report(1). The SES is an annual publication which provides an integrated one-stop compilation of Singapore’s key energy statistics (including supply, consumption, and prices) and trends in the electricity and gas sectors. This is part of EMA’s efforts to support the development of a dynamic energy sector.

Fuel Imports and Exports

In 2009, Singapore imported 146.1 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) of energy products. Being a major oil refining and trading hub in the region, petroleum products constituted the largest share of energy imports and exports at 90.3 Mtoe (61.8%) and 82.8 Mtoe (98.6%) respectively. Read more

IEA Chief Economist offers a look at our energy future

The era of cheap oil is over, and policies fall short of what is needed for a secure and sustainable energy future, says Dr Fatih Birol, Chief Economist of the International Energy Agency, in his lecture titled “A Glimpse into the Energy Fututre” at today’s EMA Distinguished Speaker Programme. This lecture is jointly organised by the Energy Market Authority and the Energy Studies Institute.

Era of cheap oil is over

Dr Birol shares that the era of cheap oil is over because of structural changes, and there is growing risk that the upturn in oil prices could undermine economic recovery.

On the demand side, strong growth from the transportation sector due to booming demand for mobility in emerging economies drives up oil use. The global car fleet continue to surge as more people in China and other emerging economies buy a car. Read more

Monitor Your Electricity Consumption at Home

Your utility bill shows the electricity consumption (in kWh) of your house over the past six months and also indicates the national average consumption for your house type. If your electricity consumption is below the national average, good for you. If not, you should start to monitor your energy consumption at home and find ways to reduce energy usage.

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Electricity Audit Calculator

To find out which appliance at home consume the most electricity, you can use this electricity audit calculator from SP Services. The audit will help you calculate the estimated electricity consumption per month and also the electricity consumed by each appliance in kWh and cost.

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Energy Monitor

If you want more accurate monitoring of your appliance’s energy consumption and to track your consumption over time, you can use an energy monitor such as ETrack or Wattson. These energy monitors can track the real time and monthly energy consumption of appliances in the home and display energy consumption in kWh and cost.

With the above calculator and energy monitor, you can monitor your electricity consumption at home and reduce the usage of high energy-consuming appliances or adjust your lifestyle to consume less energy.

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Electricity Vending System

In the future, we might have smart energy meters installed in our homes. The Energy Market Authority (EMA) is currently studying the feasibility of the Electricity Vending System (EVS), which involves installing smart meters that allow consumers to choose an electricity package and manage the electricity consumed at home.