Singapore beefs up its energy facility to keep the lights on
Singapore beefs up its energy facility to keep the lights on
Martin Abbugao, Agence France-Presse, Singapore
Singapore will beef up its gas pipelines and is considering a liquefied natural gas facility as it moves to reduce vulnerability to disruptions of energy piped in from Indonesia and Malaysia.
The trade-reliant republic, which hosts 6,000 multinational corporations and several thousand other smaller foreign and domestic firms, had its global reputation tarnished by an embarrassing power failure in large parts of the city-state on June 29.
Officials are cracking the whip not only to repair the country's dented prestige, but also to plug its vulnerability to disruptions of piped natural gas, a cheaper, cleaner fuel compared with oil.
"Technical failures affecting power supply can happen anywhere, but in Singapore's case they have highlighted the republic's high level of dependence on piped natural gas from Indonesia and Malaysia," said Tim Huxley, an Asia specialist at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Two thirds of the 5,000 megawatts of electricity actually used in Singapore is powered by gas, while the rest use oil.
To prevent future power failures, the Energy Market Authority (EMA), which regulates the industry, last week unveiled two back- up measures to be implemented in the short to medium term.
The first is ensuring that each of Singapore's three major power stations will get access to two gas pipelines instead of just one.
One power station, Seraya, which gets gas from Indonesia's Natuna fields through a 640 kilometer (397-mile) undersea pipeline, will soon be backed by a second link taking gas from Sumatra.
The Tuas station, which takes gas also from Natuna, is planning a second pipeline by mid 2005 for Sumatra gas. The Senoko station is already supported by two pipelines from Sumatra and Malaysia.
A second measure involves interconnecting the Natuna and Sumatra pipelines so that each can draw gas from the other in case of a long shutdown.
EMA chief executive Khoo Chin Hean said, however, this would take time because the two pipelines "operate at different gas pressures and are under different commercial contractual frameworks."
Legislation to expand the powers of EMA has also been proposed.
For the long-term, the EMA is considering a facility for alternative fuel sources such as liquefied natural gas (LNG), and building storage tanks for gas reserves.
"If approved, the LNG facility should be operational after 2010," Khoo said.
The necessity for a back-up network has been speeded up by the June 29 power failure, which plunged more than 300,000 homes into darkness for up to two hours in what was the nation's worst black-out in a decade.
Trade Minister George Yeo has ordered the Economic Development Board (EDB), which oversees foreign investments, to explain the power failure to corporate clients and assure them the problem was being fixed.
"I think this has done damage to our international reputation... This is not a teething problem, this is quite a toothache for everybody," he said.
Vivian Balakrishnan, the Minister of State for Trade and Industry, also said the damage to the country's reputation for ultra-efficiency and in its world class infrastructure was "incalculable", and vowed erring firms would be punished.
The blackout was blamed on a faulty solenoid or switching device, which led to the shutdown of a pressure valve at an onshore facility run by U.S. refiner ConocoPhilips.
This disrupted the flow of gas to the power stations. To complicate things, backup systems designed to allow the stations to quickly switch to diesel and continue operating failed to kick in.
But there are other threats aside from technical failures that are forcing the government to diversify its energy sources.
Security analysts said the pipelines and onshore facilities are attractive targets for terrorist groups, a fear highlighted during the blackout when many residents thought the city-state had come under terror attack.