Opening Remarks by 2M for Presentation of Letter of Conditional Approval to Sembcorp Utilities for Electricity Imports from Vietnam

Your Excellency Nguyen Manh Hung, Minister of Information and Communications of Vietnam

Your Excellency Mai Phuoc Dung, Ambassador of Vietnam to Singapore

Dr Le Manh Hung, President and CEO of Petrovietnam,

Mr Le Manh Cuong, President and CEO, Petrovietnam Technical Services Corporation,

Mr Wong Kim Yin, Group President and CEO, Sembcorp Industries,

Ladies and Gentlemen

Preamble

1. Thank you for inviting me to the Conditional Approval Presentation Ceremony for the electricity import project from Vietnam to Singapore.

2. First, I would like to extend a warm welcome to the Vietnam delegation in Singapore. My appreciation goes to Minister Nguyen Manh Hung, for making the time to join us in Singapore for this important occasion.

3. Singapore and Vietnam share close relations. We also share a common goal of getting to net-zero by 2050.

Energy Collaboration

4. Just one year ago, in October 2022, Singapore and Vietnam signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Energy Cooperation, which affirmed both countries’ commitment to support and facilitate clean energy transition efforts and regional decarbonization, including cross-border electricity trading. What a difference a year makes.

Significance of CA

5. During the Asia Clean Energy Summit on 24 October, I announced that the Energy Market Authority of Singapore has granted Conditional Approval to import 1.2 gigawatts of low-carbon electricity from Vietnam to Singapore. I am honoured to be here with Minister Hung today as we witness the presentation of the Letter of Conditional Approval to Sembcorp Utilities Pte Ltd.

  a. This project is developed in partnership with Petrovietnam Technical Services Corporation, and will harness electricity primarily from offshore wind power. It is aligned to Singapore’s decarbonisation plans and Vietnam’s Power Development Plan 8.

b. In August, during Prime Minister Lee’s visit to Hanoi, the consortium received its offshore wind site survey permit approval from the Vietnam government, as well as a Letter of Intent from the Singapore government.

c. The consortium has made substantive progress on finalising the details of their proposal since then, which merits a Conditional Approval.

d. The electricity generated will be transmitted via new subsea transmission cables that will traverse the roughly 1,000km distance from Vietnam to Singapore. This is even longer than the Viking Link Interconnector Project between the Denmark and the UK, which spans a distance of just under 800km.

6. This is a significant milestone. The Conditional Approval recognises that the project has received support from the Vietnam Government and that EMA has preliminary assessed the project to be technically and commercially viable. This is the largest project that we have given conditional approval to, thus far.

7. With the Conditional Approval, the importer will be able to embark on further studies that are needed, secure all relevant regulatory approvals from source and transit countries, and enter into necessary contracts to reach a Final Investment Decision and financial close.

Continued efforts to facilitate project

8. We have come a long way, and we still have a long way to go. Today is just the first step of a multi-year journey for Vietnam and Singapore.

9. I thank the Vietnam Government for its strong support shown towards this collaboration between Sembcorp and PTSC for cross border electricity trade between Vietnam and Singapore.

10. All of us will need to continue working closely together to make this project a reality. Today, Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs) are a hallmark of our bilateral relationship. In the future, I hope that this Vietnam-Singapore Energy Project (VSEP) will help us build even stronger ties between our two countries.

11. Thank you.