SINGAPORE — Singapore has launched a sweeping five-year energy infrastructure plan designed to meet surging power needs driven by data centers, semiconductor fabrication and the electrification of transit.
The initiative, announced by the Energy Market Authority, sets out a multi-pronged overhaul across generation, transmission, storage and regional interconnection as the country prepares for peak electricity consumption to jump by as much as 50 percent over the next decade.
“This will be the most significant build-up of our energy infrastructure in decades,” said Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng during his address at the Singapore Energy Lecture.
Peak power demand reached 8.6 gigawatts in August. Energy planners project that figure will climb to between 9.9 gigawatts and 13 gigawatts by 2031. The pace will largely be dictated by how quickly new advanced manufacturing clusters and computing centers link to the grid.
To maintain base supply, Singapore plans to bring five new natural gas-fired generating stations online between now and 2031. The additions will expand current electricity generation capacity by roughly 26 percent from its baseline of approximately 12 gigawatts. Regulators are also reviewing bids submitted during a September tender for more gas units scheduled to enter commercial operation by 2032, with further competitive bidding rounds planned if industrial demand warrants.
Highlighting the urgency to feed high-tech industries, Tan underscored that “the fastest megawatt will be the winning megawatt,” noting the government is prepared to intervene if market forces fail to bring capacity online quickly enough.
Beyond medium-term capacity, authorities are evaluating the feasibility of a consolidated energy district on Pulau Tekong. The island concept envisions hydrogen-ready gas plants alongside a liquefied natural gas import terminal and other low-carbon energy installations.
Natural gas generates about 95 percent of Singapore’s electricity. To handle increased fuel consumption and secure supply chains, the island nation will boost its regasification capacity from 10 million metric tons a year to 15 million metric tons once a second import terminal begins operating at Jurong Port by 2030. Officials are also examining an expansion of the primary terminal on Jurong Island, supported by reinforcements to the domestic gas pipeline network.
Addressing the broader global backdrop, Tan warned of supply vulnerabilities, stating that “when there is a supply crunch, countries may also prioritise their own domestic needs. This trend of resource nationalism is particularly concerning, especially if it undermines established contractual agreements.“
Transmission bottlenecks represent another central focus. The country expects to channel up to $5.3 billion into power grid expansion between 2025 and 2029, an elevenfold increase over spending during the preceding five years.
The grid program calls for seven transmission substations by 2031, compared with four completed over the previous five years. High-voltage transmission lines will grow from roughly 4,785 miles (7,700 kilometers) today to about 5,654 miles (9,100 kilometers) by 2030. Distribution systems will also receive extensive reinforcements to accommodate rooftop solar feeds and fleetwide electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
To ease long-term line maintenance and reduce disruption from surface street excavations, planners are studying plans to more than triple Singapore’s 31-mile underground cable tunnel system. The underground routes will also run direct connections into major industrial nodes, including the Tampines Wafer Fab Park.
Domestic clean generation will see upward revisions. Having achieved 2.3 gigawatts-peak of installed solar, the country expects to clear its 3-gigawatt-peak target for 2030 and has raised its sights toward a 4-gigawatt-peak benchmark by 2035. Panels will continue to go up across rooftops, reservoirs and available parcels of open land.
Even with cleaner energy ambitions, Tan made clear that economic realities remain paramount. “We will not pursue decarbonisation at all costs,” Tan said, emphasizing that Singapore must simultaneously “pursue every possible low-carbon energy pathway” to establish the foundation for its target 2050 mix.
Grid operators intend to pair this variable output with a rapid scale-up in battery capacity. Energy storage installations are slated to rise from roughly 350 megawatt-hours to more than 1 gigawatt-hour by 2030. The batteries will serve as frequency response reserves, smooth out solar intermittency, and buffer local grid congestion during transmission upgrades.
Cross-border lines will supply additional low-carbon power. The government will prepare dedicated shore landing facilities to connect subsea electricity transmission lines from neighboring countries. Meanwhile, technical teams have begun detailed feasibility studies on a second high-voltage interconnector linking Singapore with Peninsular Malaysia. If built, the link could transfer up to 2 gigawatts by 2030, doubling the cross-border capacity of the existing 1-gigawatt bi-directional connection.