The Business Times: Who Will Be The Winners And Losers In Singapore's Energy Transition?

Singapore’s power sector has to be prepared to make bold changes in the coming years, as it navigates a global energy situation that will be "very unlike" that of the last two centuries. Abhi Bhuchar, Head of Consumer and Industrials, South East Asia, and Energy, Asia Pacific, commented on the opportunities and risks in Singapore’s energy transition outlined in the nation’s Energy 2050 Committee report.

Abhi believes the transition is generally an opportunity. "What it does do is create a wonderful sandbox for companies with all the right elements - like regulatory support and a large ecosystem of small and medium enterprises - to be able to innovate on technologies and business models that can then be exported to other parts of the world."

Still, he adds, incumbent power generation companies could very well be impacted negatively. "However, given the time horizon in mind, and the age of this gas fleet, Singapore may actually have a real chance to be one of the few economies in the world with an 'orderly' transition."

Resolving the risks and challenges that come with the transition will require multiple ecosystems coming together and flourishing, which will involve significant investments in physical engineering, financial structuring, and infrastructure build, says Bhuchar. “A lot of the specific niche capabilities don't exist at an industrial scale in Singapore yet, and in some cases even the world. And therein lie the winners.

"Organisations that can start to invest ahead of the curve and position themselves for this en-masse transition across the value chain of new energies will see themselves win. Not least because of the scale in Singapore, but also because a number of countries will be fast followers behind path-breakers like Singapore and these capabilities will be desperately needed there."

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