Senior Minister of State Sim Ann oral reply to PQ on energy efficiency and plans to engage new energy sources

Question:

Mr Saktiandi Supaat: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) (a) what is the estimated amount of energy that we will be using in the next ten years; (b) whether our energy efficiency will be adequate to meet our future needs; (c) what measures does the Ministry have to ensure or improve energy efficiency; and (d) whether there are plans to engage in new energy sources.

Answer:

1. Madam Speaker, over the next decade, our energy demand is expected to grow at a projected compounded annual growth rate of about 1.2 to 1.8 percent, to reach around 57,900 to 62,200 gigawatt hour (GWh) in 2027. The actual energy demand will vary depending on GDP and population growth rate.

2. Promoting more efficient use of energy is a key prong of our energy strategy. It will reduce our carbon footprint and enhance Singapore’s energy security and economic competitiveness. The Government has thus adopted a mix of regulations, incentives, and capability building measures to encourage energy efficiency improvements in the industrial, building and household sectors.

3. The industrial sector accounted for 67 percent of total energy consumption in 2014.  In 2015, the industry achieved a 0.6 percent energy efficiency improvement rate, an increase from 0.4 percent in 2014.  However, there is room for us to improve our energy efficiency, so as to fulfil our pledge under the Paris Agreement.  The Government will continue to work with the industry to achieve energy efficient rates similar to the 1 to 2 percent per annum in leading developed countries.  

4. To this end, the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) has recently enhanced the Energy Conservation Act to strengthen energy efficiency practices among companies, and plans to implement Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) for common industrial equipment.   The Minister for Finance has also announced in this year’s Budget Speech that the Government aims to implement a carbon tax from 2019. The price signal from the carbon tax will incentivise the adoption of more energy efficient practices by the industry, as well as the rest of the economy.

5. Capability building efforts include the Energy Efficiency Fund administered by the National Environment Agency (NEA) which provides support for companies to undertake design reviews, energy audits, and equipment retrofits. The Economic Development Board (EDB) supports energy efficiency initiatives in the manufacturing sector through various incentives, such as the Productivity Grant, Investment Allowance, as well as energy efficiency financing programmes.  Small and medium-sized enterprises can tap on SPRING’s Capability Development Grant to adopt energy efficient solutions that can help improve their business capabilities.  We also aim to build up a strong pool of energy efficient expertise in Singapore, for instance through the Singapore Certified Energy Manager programme.

6. In the building sector, the Government has been driving the shift towards more environmentally sustainable buildings. As of January this year, there are close to 3,000 Green Mark building projects in Singapore, which is approximately one-third of the total building stock. Our target is to have 80 percent of all buildings achieve BCA’s Green Mark standards by 2030.

7. For households, the Government has sought to raise awareness of energy efficiency products through the Mandatory Energy Labelling Scheme (MELS).  In addition, inefficient household appliances are weeded out from the market through Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS). As a result, the average energy efficiency of refrigerators has improved by about 26 percent since 2008.  To encourage households to be more energy efficient, new features such as peer comparison have been introduced to residential consumers’ utilities bill.

8. Madam, besides improving the efficiency on the demand side, we will continue to explore new options in our energy supply to address our energy security, competitiveness, and sustainability needs.  Among alternative energy options, solar photovoltaic (PV) currently has the greatest potential for wider deployment in Singapore. In 2014, we announced a plan to raise the adoption of solar energy in our system to 350 megawatt peak (MWp) by 2020.  Looking beyond 2020, we plan to further raise the adoption of solar power in our system to 1 gigawatt peak (GWp). We will increase solar adoption by investing in research, development and demonstration (RD&D) in solar PV and related energy technologies; addressing market barriers to deployment; enhancing our regulatory framework; and by taking the lead through aggregation of demand from public agencies.