Singapore is Not Ready for Renewable Energy
By Eugene on Jul 18, 2008 in Government and Policies, Energy and Transportation, Singapore, Featured
Singapore is not ready for renewable energy. This is the conclusion that we arrived at from the recent roundtable on “Is Singapore Ready for Renewable Energy?” organised by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
We agree with one of the speakers, Mr Stefan Mueller, Asia-Pacific Managing Director of Conergy Renewable Energy Singapore, who said that the two issues of jobs and research, and adoption of renewable energy should be looked at separately.
Singapore has been putting in much effort in attracting renewable energy companies to set up their operations in Singapore and create jobs, and encouraging research and development in renewable energy technologies. There have been several initiatives and funding to support the renewable energy industry ever since the government decided to focus on clean tech two years ago.
However, the local adoption of renewable energy is less than desirable. There are no renewable energy targets by the government to specify the proportion of energy that should be generated by renewable sources within a time period. In addition, without subsidies, the use of renewable energy such as solar energy is still not price competitive as compared to current electricity tariffs. The government is not in favour of subsidies, as Mr David Tan, Deputy Chief Executive of the Energy Market Authority, emphasised:
We do not subsidise energy. We believe in the right pricing of energy because by pricing energy correctly, that would drive certain behaviour in consumers. As a result of that behaviour, we believe consumers will learn to conserve energy. The government has no plans to implement feed-in tariffs.
Mr Mueller explained that it is important to have local adoption of renewable energy as it is an investment for the future, ensures energy security, and retains talent. Talent retention is relevant beacuse the people who are working in the renewable energy industry would want to be where the market demand is and where their renewable energy technologies are being installed and used.
We agree that through the actual installation of renewable energy technologies, those people involved in the business can use their skills, interact with their customers and contractors, and understand more about their technologies and the improvements that can be made. If they can’t use their skills in Singapore because of the low adoption of renewable energy here, they are likely to leave and go where the market demand is.
Our conclusion is that Singapore is not ready for renewable energy. Singapore gets a “Pass” grade for attracting renewable energy companies and creating jobs, but she gets a “Fail” grade for supporting the local adoption of renewable energy.
More can and should be done to support the use of renewable energy because we feel that generating energy from renewable sources, although it can’t replace oil and natural gas all together, still helps in our energy security as we diversify our energy sources. In other words, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Our current way of moving from one “fuel oil basket” (22%) to a “natural gas basket” (76%) for electricity generation does not count; it is still putting your eggs in one big basket, albeit a different one. We need different energy baskets for natural gas and other renewable sources.
The government needs to think again about subsidies and renewable energy targets, and listen to the concerns and suggestions given by the renewable energy companies if Singapore wants to be a clean energy hub.
Related articles:
- The “S” Word and more questions
- Wait for costs to come down before adopting solar energy
- Reflections on Singapore’s efforts in energy and climate change
Tags: clean energy, clean tech, energy, renewable energy, singapore, solar, subsidies
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Per Dahlen | Jul 19, 2008 | Reply
I was also at the meeting and I fully agree to the comments above. It must be frustrating to have so much activities in pipeline but no targets to focus on. You could really sense the feeling of “we are sitting here and waiting for the leaders to take a decision”.
So what is taking so long, what is the difficult part?
We have enough “brain power” to be able to bang out a plan relatively fast. Things are becoming even more frustrating when Al Gore the day after sets the direction for 100% fossil-free in 10 years! (We can always discuss the viability of such a target, but the there is for sure no lack of vision)
I have however no doubts that once the directions are set, things will move quickly, there are so many organisations and individuals ready to move. I would like to draw parallels to the initiatives the government drew up for increased Entrepreneurship back in 2001.
Attending the Blue5ky festival yesterday it is clear that Singapore has come a long way and is now moving up yet another gear for “passionate entrepreneurship” and that it is OK, and even required, to be different, in order to be a successful entrepreneur.
The same thing is possible for Renewable Energy. I can easily envision Singapore being on track to reach, for example 20% RE by 2020, in just a few years, but this requires commitment, plans and targets.
I have a Google alert for the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development (IMCSD) and it hardly ever shows. I do believe that a Energy Ministry is needed for Singapore just as proposed in a previous blog here on AsiaIsGreen.
Additional to the targets we also need to define the direction. My feeling is that it is somewhat too much of a “shot-gun” approach right now to RE in Singapore. Focus is required in order to boost the market but also to support the RE companies and industries that chooses Singapore as the Cleantech Hub in Asia.
The proposal is simple and Singapore should leverage much more its assets. Focus should be on Solar, the only natural resource in Singapore. But not only on PV, focus should also be on Solar Thermal, batteries, smart-grids, net-metering, DC-distribution and anything else around solar to be able to create a thriving community.
A part from solar, Singapore also has a great potential to be leader in other RE areas related to large cities. Clearly we should be focusing more on RE for public transportation. How come even Malaysia is before Singapore setting targets on using Biogas for buses and trains?
Building effectiveness and Air-conditioning effectiveness are other areas to promote more and build skills and knowledge around.
Waste Management. I do not need to say more. Urban Biomass is a tremendous resource and Singapore could easily take the lead in this area.
So from my perspective we just need to push harder, Singapore can. As Al Gore exclaims:
…we need a worldwide global mobilization…
…we need another hero generation…
…we have a planetary emergency!
So Singapore, we are prepared, we are in the starting blocks, just show us the track and the finishing line and we will get there…
Per
Eugene | Jul 21, 2008 | Reply
The presentation slides for the 5 speakers are available from the LKYSPP website at http://www.lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/Past_events.aspx#rfre
Eugene | Jul 23, 2008 | Reply
Mr Edwin Khew (SEAS chairman) corrects The Business Times’s unbalanced reporting of the roundtable discussion. Read his comments at http://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com/2008/07/singapore-on-right-track-with-renewable.html.