Singapore Positioned as Central Hub for 25GW Renewable and Energy Storage Expansion in Southeast Asia

Singapore is emerging as a pivotal hub for a future Southeast Asian regional power grid, with upcoming interconnections to neighboring countries expected to deliver 25 GW of new renewable energy and energy storage capacity.

This insight comes from a new report by Rystad Energy, which highlights Singapore’s expanding role in the region’s energy landscape. The report details existing hydropower and solar photovoltaic (PV) links between Singapore, Thailand, and Laos, and points to further planned connections with other countries and energy sources.

Among the proposed projects are a solar transmission line with Indonesia, a wind energy connection with Vietnam, combined hydropower and solar links with Cambodia, and a hydropower connection with Malaysia. The total investment required for generation and transmission infrastructure is projected to exceed US$40 billion.

“Singapore is in the best position to benefit from Southeast Asia’s developing regional grid,” said Raksit Pattanapitoon, lead analyst for renewables and power in the Asia-Pacific at Rystad Energy and co-author of the report. “However, achieving these benefits will demand mutually beneficial cooperation with supplying countries, some of which may see limited immediate advantages in exporting power.”

Singapore’s limited land availability and high per capita energy consumption—more than double that of Italy—have made it heavily reliant on electricity imports. In 2023, Singapore began importing 400 MW of solar power from Indonesia and is currently working toward securing an additional 1 GW of solar-plus-storage capacity through a project jointly developed by TotalEnergies and Royal Golden Eagle.

Rystad Energy’s analysis also reveals that importing renewable electricity could be more cost-effective than relying on domestically produced fossil-fuel power. For instance, solar-plus-storage projects in Malaysia and Indonesia deliver electricity at a levelized cost of US$74–116/MWh and US$91–144/MWh respectively, for systems operating at a 100% load factor. In contrast, Singapore’s combined-cycle gas turbine plants have an LCOE of US$135–170/MWh under similar operating conditions.