Singapore's Energy Story
A Glimpse into Singapore's Energy History
What is Singapore’s Energy Trilemma?
Overview of the Electricity Sector
Overview of the Gas Sector
Our Energy Challenge to You!
About Singapore’s LNG Terminal
What is Liquefied Natural Gas?
Singapore LNG Corporation
Importance of the LNG Terminal to Singapore
LNG Terminal Operations
SMART Refection
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When did Singapore’s first air-conditioned cinema open?
When did Singapore start importing natural gas from Malaysia?
Where was Singapore's first offshore power plant?
Can you name a popular night spot that used to be a power station?
The "Energy Trilemma" refers to the need to balance the trade-offs between three important yet competing considerations - energy security, energy competitiveness and environmental sustainability - so as to achieve a sustainable energy future for Singapore.
Keeping our energy options open and ensuring adequate supply to meet our energy needs
Having energy that is competitively priced and reflective of its true cost
Minimising energy wastage and its impact on the environment
How does Singapore balance its Energy Trilemma?
Piped natural gas is imported from Malaysia and Indonesia. Additionally, the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal allows us to import gas globally. Electricity can also be generated from other sources such as solar.
These are run by power generation companies, who produce and sell electricity to retailers.
POWER GRID
SP PowerAssets owns the national transmission and distribution system, which delivers electricity island-wide.
These companies buy electricity from the wholesale market and sell it to “contestable” consumers such as commercial and industrial users, who are able to choose where to buy their electricity from.
MARKET SUPPORT SERVICE LICENSEE
SP Services sells electricity to "non-contestable" customers such as small industrial and commercial consumers and households.
EMA is the regulator and developer of Singapore's electricity, gas and district cooling industries. EMA also serves as the Power System Operator.
The Energy Market Company operates Singapore's wholesale electricity market, the National Energy Market of Singapore, which is Asia's first liberalised electricity market.
City Gas is the town gas producer. Town gas is produced mainly for cooking and water heating for use by households and commercial users.
TOWN GAS NETWORK
Serves mostly households
TOWN GAS RETAILER
City Gas Pte Ltd is the only town gas retailer supplying town gas to households.
NATURAL GAS NETWORK
Serves mostly industrial and commercial users
Households buy town gas from City Gas Pte Ltd.
The onshore receiving facility receives piped natural gas from gas fields in Malaysia and Indonesia. The facility ensures that the quantity is correct, filters out impurities and heats the gas to the right temperature for delivery to users.
Major gas retailers are Gas Supply Pte Ltd and Sembcorp Gas Pte Ltd.
SMALL INDUSTRIAL CONSUMERS
Small companies buy from gas retailers such as City Gas Pte Ltd, Gas Supply Pte Ltd and Sembcorp Pte Ltd.
Liquefied natural gas is transported by vessels from around the world and stored in the LNG terminal. It is regasified into natural gas at the terminal before delivery to the users.
A gas shipper contracts the gas transporter to deliver gas over the piped network. Some of the gas shippers are City Gas, Keppel Gas and YTL PowerSeraya.
LARGE INDUSTRIAL CONSUMERS
Large companies can buy gas directly from a gas shipper.
Understand the examples of some energy sources below. Write down your energy solutions for Singapore.
COAL
Coal deposits are abundant.
Coal is one of the cheapest energy sources in the world.
Carbon emissions from coal power plants are higher than natural gas-fired plants.
NATURAL GAS
Burning natural gas produces lower carbon emissions as compared to other fossil fuels. According to estimates, the world's natural gas reserves can last longer than oil reserves.
With advancements in power generation technology, it is much more effficient to use natural gas to generate electricity as compared to oil or coal.
OIL
New technologies are improving oil field recovery rates and allowing for the development of oil reserves located in previously inaccessible areas such as ultra-deep water.
Oil produces more carbon emissions than natural gas.
SOLAR ENERGY
Solar energy is clean and does not produce harmful pollutants. While sunlight is free, deploying solar energy is usually more space-intensive and more costly as compared to generating electricity from fossil fuels. In Singapore, solar energy poses intermittency issues due to dense cloud cover.
TIDAL ENERGY
Tidal energy is the oldest form of renewable energy. Deploying this option could be challenging for countries that are surrounded by busy shipping lanes such as Singapore.
What is/are my energy solution(s) for Singapore?
Singapore LNG Corporation (SLNG) was incorporated in June 2009 to develop, build, own and operate Singapore’s first LNG terminal on Jurong Island. This is a key national infrastructure that supports Singapore’s energy diversification strategy and future economic development in the energy sector.
SLNG’s core businesses include throughput, vessel cool-down and storage & reload services.
MILLION
The LNG terminal has a throughput capacity of 6 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa).
Situated on a 40-hectare plot on Jurong Island, the current terminal was built at a cost of S$1.7 billion
More than 95% of Singapore’s electricity is generated using natural gas. The terminal allows us to import LNG globally, instead of relying only on piped natural gas.
Singapore's excellent geographical location is a catalyst for developing a vibrant LNG trading hub for the region. The terminal is well located at the centre of major trade routes, as well as between major LNG demand centres and supply sources.
Developments such as the Competitive Licensing Framework will give us the flexibility to take advantage of changes in Asia’s LNG pricing dynamics and the emergence of new supply sources.
Leveraging on our strategic location and excellent economic infrastructure, Singapore can facilitate global LNG fows and establish itself as a regional LNG trading hub
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is primarily methane condensed into liquid form by cooling it below its dew point to -161oC (-260oF) at atmospheric pressure.
LNG is less than half the weight of water
When natural gas is condensed into liquid form, its volume is reduced by 600 times, which makes it more cost efficient to transport over long distances.
With advancements in power generation technology, it is much more effcient to use natural gas, rather than oil or coal, to generate electricity.
Burning natual gas produces lower levels of carbon emissions as compared to other fossil fuels, such as oil and coal.
Natual gas can be used to produce heat and electricity simultaneously via cogeneration systems.
According to estimates, the world’s natural gas reserves can last longer than oil reserves
There are four marine loading arms that can be used to connect the LNG carrier berthed at the jetty to the terminal. Each jetty is equipped with four loading arms - two liquid, one vapour and one hybrid. The vapour arm is important in ensuring that gas flows freely back to the ship and maintains a positive pressure into the ship.
The BOG compressors are used to control the pressure in the storage tanks by recovering the boil-off gas and sending it to the recondenser, which recondenses the gas into liquid using LNG. The liquefied gas is subsequently transferred to the high pressure booster pumps. Gas enters the BOG compressor at -135°C, causing ice to form around the inlet to the compressor.
This is where LNG is transformed into its gaseous state by warming the liquid using heat from sea water, before being delivered into the pipeline system. The LNG travels upwards through the ORV at around -135oC and as it travels, heat is exchanged with the seawater flowing down from the top. Regasified LNG comes out from the top of the ORV at about 25oC.
Each ORV can take about 180 tonnes of LNG. The amount of seawater required to vaporise 180 tonnes of LNG in the ORV is approximately 4,000 tonnes per hour. This is to make sure that reduction in the temperature of the returning seawater is no more than 10°C, so that it has minimum impact on the surrounding marine environment.
If the ORV cannot be used (e.g. due to a loss of power to run the seawater pumps), the SCV serves as a backup to turn LNG into gas.
Currently, there are three LNG storage tanks, each with a capacity of 180,000 cubic metres. Each tank can fit two Airbus A380s stacked on top of one another. LNG is stored in these tanks at just above atmospheric pressure and at approximately -161°C. The tanks are about 88 metres in diameter and 52 metres tall.
Flaring of gas is used as a last resort in situations where the pressure is rising in the tanks and the available capacity of the BOG compressor is insufficient to reduce the tank pressure. Some of the gas will then be diverted into the flare system to prevent over-pressurisation of the tanks and to maintain the pressure within an allowable range.
3. OPEN RACK VAPOURISER (ORV) 4. SUBMERGED COMBUSTION VAPOURISER (SCV) 5. LNG STORAGE TANKHear about the concepts of the LNG ecosystem and Singapore's Energy Trilemma.
Learn about the increasing share of natural gas in Singapore's fuel mix over the years.
Understand the need for diversification in energy sources.
Appreciate the "Heart of the Operations" at the LNG terminal. Recognise the importance of quantity and quality control of gas.
Understand the terminal safety controls available in the control room.
Learn about the types/specifications/features of loading arms.
Recognise that the loading arms can be disconnected.
Understand that LNG is stored at just above atmospheric pressure and at -161o C.
Appreciate the engineering design considerations of the storage tanks.
Understand the material engineering concepts behind the storage tanks.
Recognise the need for the BOG Compressor. Understand the transformation of LNG into its gaseous state.
Apply the concept of maximising surface area using fins.
Hear about the impact of Singapore's 100% dew conditions on instrument systems.
Learn about the effect of wet air in instrumentation systems / cryogenic sections. Apply compression and drying techniques to reduce dew point.
Identify the indicators of gas being sent out. Discuss the importance of an independent meter. Appreciate the injection of THT to odourless natural gas.
What are three key things that I have learnt from the Powering Lives Trail?
What is the one SPECIFIC thing that I can do for our Power sector?
How do I MEASURE the milestones to keep track of my progress?
What can I do to ACHIEVE the goal?
Is achieving this goal REALISTIC? Why?
What is my TIMELINE?
We welcome Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents who will be/are currently pursuing relevant engineering courses (e.g. mechanical, electrical, and power engineering-related courses) at the local Institute of Technical Education, Polytechnics or Universities to apply for the Energy-Industry Scholarship (EIS).
The application cycle for the EIS starts in December and closes in March every year To apply, visit www.ema.gov.sg/eis
The Powering Lives Trails is a series of learning journeys in the Power sector that aims to encourage awareness about our energy story, highlight career progression in the sector and foster appreciation of the intricacies involved in the real-world application of engineering concepts.
www.poweringlives.sg
