Southeast Asia's largest energy storage system opens on Jurong Island in push for solar power

SINGAPORE: The largest energy storage system in Southeast Asia opened on Jurong Island on Thursday (Feb 2), in another push for solar power adoption in Singapore.

The Sembcorp Energy Storage System has a maximum storage capacity of 285 megawatt-hours (MWh), enabling it to meet the electricity needs of about 24,000 households in four-room flats for one day in a single discharge.

The facility spans 2ha – the size of nearly three football fields – and started operations last December. The Energy Market Authority (EMA) appointed Sembcorp Industries to develop it in June 2022.

EMA required the energy storage system to be completed by last December in view of ongoing developments in the global energy market, said Ms Jeanette Lim, EMA's director of industry development.

This was so the facility could "provide energy, reserves and/or regulation services to enhance Singapore's grid resilience and manage any protracted market and energy supply volatility", she said.

"Its rapid response time to store and supply power in milliseconds is essential in mitigating solar intermittency caused by changing weather conditions in Singapore's tropical climate," Sembcorp and EMA said in a joint media release.

"It can also provide reserves to the power grid, which frees up power generation plants to generate more electricity to meet demand, when needed."

EMA chief executive Ngiam Shih Chun said the energy storage system will complement the authority's efforts to maximise solar adoption, as well as enhance the power grid's stability and resilience.

The deployment of the utility-scale facility means that Singapore has achieved its 200 MWh energy storage target ahead of time, he noted.

Singapore previously announced a target of deploying at least 200 MWh of energy storage systems beyond 2025 as part of the Singapore Green Plan 2030.

Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng said solar power was Singapore's most viable source of clean energy, and scaling up its deployment was a key initiative to decarbonise the power sector.

The country has doubled its solar capacity since 2020, with more than 700 megawatt-peak (MWp) currently installed, added the minister, who spoke at the opening of the facility.

Singapore aims to increase solar capacity to at least 2 gigawatt-peak (2 GWp) by 2030, equivalent to powering about 350,000 households a year. This is expected to meet around 3 per cent of projected electricity demand.

The Sembcorp Energy Storage System comprises more than 800 large-scale battery units, whose charge and discharge cycles are centrally managed according to grid supply and demand.

Sembcorp, which also operates an energy storage system fleet in the United Kingdom, has a battery storage portfolio of 709 MWh.