Singapore has little space for large energy projects and almost no domestic fuel resources, yet it operates one of the world’s most reliable electricity systems. Its infrastructure has been built around a clear national requirement: imported energy must move through a compact island economy without interrupting homes, transport, digital services, ports or advanced manufacturing. This has produced a system that is highly centralised in planning, heavily dependent on natural gas, and increasingly connected to regional power networks.
The country’s next infrastructure phase is more difficult than the one before it. Singapore must continue expanding supply for data centres, industry and transport electrification while reducing the carbon intensity of power generation. That means maintaining gas security, adding flexible generation, expanding underground network assets, integrating more rooftop solar and storage, and constructing subsea links that can bring low-carbon electricity from other countries.
Imported Natural Gas Still Supports the Power System
Natural gas remains the physical foundation of Singapore’s electricity supply. In the first half of 2025, gas provided more than 93% of the generation fuel mix, while total registered generation capacity reached about 13.3 GW. Most large plants use efficient combined-cycle gas turbines, with major generating sites concentrated around Jurong Island, Tuas, Senoko and Pulau Seraya.
The infrastructure behind this system is broader than the power stations themselves. Pipeline gas arrives from Malaysia and Indonesia, while liquefied natural gas can be purchased from global suppliers and delivered to the Singapore LNG terminal on Jurong Island. LNG gives Singapore access to a wider group of producers and reduces reliance on individual cross-border pipelines, although it also exposes electricity prices to international fuel markets.
A second LNG terminal is planned at Jurong Port. The project will use a floating storage and regasification unit connected to onshore infrastructure and is expected to be ready by 2030. It would increase national LNG import capacity by about 50%, bringing total capacity to approximately 15 million tonnes per year. This expansion is not only designed for higher demand. It also creates redundancy if an existing terminal, pipeline or supply route is disrupted.
Gas-fired generation is also becoming more flexible. Two 340 MW open-cycle gas turbine units operated by Meranti Power entered full operation in 2025 and can start in less than ten minutes. Their main role is not continuous generation but rapid response during plant outages or sudden supply changes. Singapore is also arranging new combined-cycle capacity, including a hydrogen-ready unit of at least 600 MW planned for operation in 2029.
An Underground Grid Serves a Dense Urban Economy
Singapore’s electricity network must expand without competing excessively with housing, roads, industry and public space. Underground cables and substations therefore play a much larger role than they do in countries with abundant land. SP Group owns and operates the national transmission and distribution network, moving power through infrastructure that ranges from 400 kV transmission assets to local distribution systems.
The Labrador substation shows how infrastructure planning is adapting to land scarcity. The 230 kV facility was built underground to strengthen supply in southern Singapore, including areas around Alexandra, Keppel, Pasir Panjang and the Singapore Science Park. Building underground costs more and creates complex engineering requirements, but it releases valuable surface land and protects important equipment within a controlled environment.
Network renewal is as important as new construction. SP Group reported commissioning more than 150 kilometres of new electricity cables while replacing about 180 kilometres of older cables, 1,200 switchgear panels and more than 300 transformers. This continuous replacement programme helps explain why interruptions remain extremely rare. In 2024, the average customer experienced only 0.006 interruptions, with an average total interruption duration of 0.26 minutes.
Such reliability is economically significant. Semiconductor production, financial markets, metro systems, airports, desalination plants and data centres have very low tolerance for outages. Singapore therefore treats reserve capacity and network redundancy as core economic infrastructure rather than optional utility improvements.
Jurong Island Connects Generation, Storage and Industrial Demand
Jurong Island is the centre of Singapore’s fuel and power infrastructure. It contains petrochemical facilities, gas-fired generation, LNG assets and major industrial consumers. Its concentration of energy-intensive activity allows pipelines, terminals, substations and utility services to be shared across a relatively small area.
The island also hosts a 285 MWh battery energy storage system developed by Sembcorp. The facility can respond rapidly to changes in supply and demand, support frequency control and reduce the impact of intermittent solar generation. Battery storage does not replace firm generation, but it gives system operators more time and flexibility when output changes unexpectedly.
This role will become more important as distributed energy resources expand. Solar capacity reached about 1.37 GWac in the first half of 2025, much of it installed on rooftops and other built surfaces. Electric vehicle charging and behind-the-meter batteries will add further complexity. Instead of managing electricity only from a small number of large plants, the grid will increasingly need to coordinate thousands of smaller assets.
Singapore’s Future Grid Capabilities Roadmap is intended to address this shift. Its priorities include better forecasting, digital control, virtual power plants and the use of flexible consumer demand. These systems could allow groups of batteries, solar installations and controllable loads to operate together as a single grid resource.
Subsea Cables Will Change Singapore’s Energy Geography
The most important long-term infrastructure change may take place beyond Singapore’s territory. The country aims to import around 6 GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035, equal to roughly one-third of projected demand at that time. Proposed projects would connect Singapore with renewable generation in Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Sarawak and Australia.
The existing Lao PDR–Thailand–Malaysia–Singapore Power Integration Project provides a smaller working model. Its trading capacity increased to as much as 200 MW in 2024, using the Malaysian grid to move electricity into Singapore. Future projects are much larger and would require new high-voltage subsea cables, converter stations, landing points and domestic grid connections.
These links could give Singapore access to solar, wind and hydropower resources that cannot be developed at sufficient scale on the island. They also create new risks. Long cables are expensive, technically demanding and exposed to permitting, financing and cross-border political issues. Supply security will depend on using several routes and source countries rather than replacing gas dependence with dependence on one external electricity project.
Infrastructure Flexibility Will Determine the Next Stage
Singapore’s existing energy system is strong because fuel supply, generation capacity and grid reliability have been planned together. The next stage requires the same coordination across a more diverse system. New LNG capacity and fast-start turbines will protect reliability, while batteries, digital controls and demand response will help balance solar generation. Underground substations and cable renewal will support urban growth, and regional interconnectors will open access to lower-carbon power.
The central challenge is not simply building more capacity. Singapore must connect gas infrastructure, local generation, distributed resources and imported electricity into one system that remains reliable during a rapid transition. Its success will depend on redundancy, regional cooperation and the ability of the grid to respond quickly as both supply and demand become less predictable.
