Adjournment motion on Singapore's energy resilience strategy

Singapore’s power grid is overwhelmingly centralised, making it vulnerable to system-wide blackouts, without sufficient backup. Beyond routine failures, it faces potential risks from disruptions caused by regional gas supply interruptions, geopolitical events or natural disasters, cyberattacks and extreme weather. Making these points in parliament on Wednesday (May 6), NMP Azhar Othman urged the government to set up a multi-agency task force to pilot Singapore’s first constituency-scale electricity grid. He proposed a layered, distributed energy architecture, powered by solar panels and battery energy storage systems. It would allow each constituency to operate independently for up to 24 hours without mainland utility power and prevent failures from cascading. In reply, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Gan Siow Huang said Singapore has one of the most reliable electricity grids in the world. It diversifies its gas supply sources and maintains fuel reserves in case of natural gas disruption. She said micro-grids and battery systems are among energy solutions being studied by the government to enhance resilience, but they will have to meet specific needs and safety requirements.