2. Speeches
Speech by 2M Tan See Leng Guest-of-Honour at the Official Launch of Sembcorp Energy Storage System
2 February 2023
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Mr Koh Chiap Khiong, CEO, Singapore & Southeast Asia, Sembcorp Industries,
Mr Richard Lim, Chairman, EMA,
Mr Ngiam Shih Chun, Chief Executive, EMA,
Your Excellency,
Board of Directors, Sembcorp Industries,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Introduction
1. A very good afternoon to all of you.
2. I would first like to congratulate Sembcorp Industries on the official opening of the Sembcorp Energy Storage System on Jurong Island.
3. Thank you for inviting me to share this achievement with you.
4. Singapore’s small land size and geography limits our renewable energy options, but we are committed to play our part in the global effort to combat climate change.
5. To overcome our constraints, Singapore must develop innovative ideas and use technology extensively.
6. As part of Singapore’s Energy Transition, Singapore has embarked on various initiatives to decarbonise our power sector.
7. A key initiative is scaling up the deployment of solar power, which is our most viable source of clean energy.
8. After achieving our solar target of 350 megawatt-peak or MWp in 2020, we have since doubled our capacity to more than 700 MWp of solar installed today.
9. This makes Singapore one of the most solar dense cities in the world.
10. To meet our target of 1.5 gigawatt-peak or GWp of solar by 2025 and at least 2 GWp by 2030, we will need to continually adopt innovative solutions to maximise our solar energy potential.
11. This includes maximising solar deployment on conventional roof spaces as well as on water bodies, vacant land, and vertical building facades.
12. Solar deployment also requires the use of Energy Storage Systems or ESS in short.
13. ESS allows us to manage the intermittency of solar power, as solar resources are not constantly or consistently available.
14. With ESS, we can store excess power that is generated during peak production periods, for use at other times.
15. This helps to maintain grid stability and reliability, and benefit consumers.
The Sembcorp ESS is the largest in Southeast Asia and fastest of its size to be deployed
16. In tandem with Singapore’s ambitions to increase solar deployment and enhance grid resilience, the Energy Market Authority or EMA appointed Sembcorp Industries to build, own and operate a utility scale ESS on Jurong Island in June 2022.
17. In a short period of six months, Sembcorp successfully commissioned the 285 megawatt-hour or MWh ESS facility in December 2022.
18. The ESS is Southeast Asia’s largest ESS and can meet the electricity needs of around 24,000 4-room HDB households for one day, in a single discharge.
19. This ESS is also the fastest of its size to be deployed, in the world.
20. I am heartened to note that Sembcorp has achieved this feat with more than 235,000 safe man-hours contributed by over four hundred workers working onsite.
ESS is an essential technology to enhance grid reliability
21. The Sembcorp ESS uses Lithium-ion batteries that have fast-response time, high energy density and high round trip efficiency.
22. These features allow the ESS to actively manage mismatches in electricity supply and demand and perform regulation services to address second-to-second fluctuations in the power grid, thereby maintaining grid reliability.
23. The ESS can also be used to store energy to provide reserves to the power grid, freeing up power generation plants to generate more electricity to meet national demand, when needed.
Conclusion
24. In conclusion, the Sembcorp ESS demonstrates Singapore’s commitment to contribute to the global effort to combat climate change and a key solution to enhance our energy security and grid resiliency.
25. It also marks an important milestone for Singapore in achieving its 200 MWh energy storage target outlined in the Singapore Green Plan 2030.
26. In addition, the project is an exemplary model of how Government and the industry can collaborate with each other, and serves as a blueprint as we strive to achieve Singapore’s raised climate ambition of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
27. The Government stands ready to continue to grow our partnerships with companies, as we work to advance Singapore’s energy transition.
28. Thank you.