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Singapore
AsiaSoutheast Asia

Energy-hungry Singapore eyes Malaysia’s rainforests, Australia’s deserts, for clean power

  • Singapore is looking to its neighbours for sources of renewable energy as it aims to reach net zero by 2050 despite challenges

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A worker on a floating solar power farm off Singapore’s northern coast. Photo: AFP
Agence France-Presse
With huge data centres set to drive up its already large demand for energy, the tiny city state of Singapore is looking to Australia’s deserts and Malaysia’s rainforests for clean power.
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This week Australia announced a massive solar farm that it hopes will eventually offer two gigawatts of power to Singapore via undersea cable.

Singapore aims to hit peak carbon emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050, but it relies heavily on imported oil and gas.

The city state lacks the conditions to produce either wind or hydropower, and while it aims to generate two gigawatts from locally installed solar by 2030, it does not have space for large solar farms.

Demand, meanwhile, is only set to rise, particularly from data centres, which already account for 7 per cent of Singapore’s electricity consumption. That is projected to grow to 12 per cent by 2030.

Rainforest is cleared in Malaysian Borneo. Officials from Malaysia’s Sarawak reference Singapore’s demand when discussing plans to bolster renewable generation. Photo: Shutterstock
Rainforest is cleared in Malaysian Borneo. Officials from Malaysia’s Sarawak reference Singapore’s demand when discussing plans to bolster renewable generation. Photo: Shutterstock
To meet that demand, Singapore’s Energy Market Authority has already granted conditional approvals to import 1GW from Cambodia, 2GW from Indonesia and 1.2GW from Vietnam.
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