PacificLight Power to build S$1b hydrogen-ready power plant on Jurong Island by 2029

A hydrogen-compatible natural gas power plant built by local electricity generator PacificLight Power on Jurong Island will begin operations in 2029.

The company said the project, which will cost around S$1 billion, will be the largest single and most efficient combined cycle gas turbine facility in Singapore.

It will have a capacity of at least 600 megawatts (MW), which is enough to power more than 864,000 four-room flats for a year. When it begins operations, it can burn at least 30 per cent hydrogen – a cleaner fuel – with natural gas making up the rest, to generate electricity.

In the future, the plant will be able to burn 100 per cent hydrogen, as the power sector works towards net zero carbon emissions.

Singapore plans to have at least nine hydrogen-ready power plants by 2030. PacificLight said its newly announced plant will be the largest of these.
 

The Energy Market Authority (EMA) announced the awarding of the contract to PacificLight on 3 January.

PacificLight’s plant will also be the first to be paired with a large-scale battery energy storage system, which stores electricity during periods of low demand.

The total cost of the project, including plant and machinery, construction, battery storage system and related infrastructure, is estimated to be S$1 billion. This will be incurred over the three-year construction period.

The site of the plant has not been developed yet. An environmental impact assessment is being prepared for the project.

The company added that its site on Jurong Island is “sufficiently sized” to accommodate, in the future, a second gas turbine unit, and also potentially integrate carbon capture, utilisation and storage technology.

“This underscores PacificLight Power’s commitment to adopting cutting-edge solutions that enhance system stability while reducing operational costs and environmental impact,” the company said in a statement on 3 January.

Singapore currently relies on natural gas to generate most of its electricity, but needs to turn to greener sources to meet its net zero goals.

Hydrogen is considered a greener fuel than natural gas as it does not produce any planet-warming carbon dioxide when burned.
 

With electricity-guzzling industries, such as those in the digital economy, and electric transport fleets set to grow, EMA forecasts that Singapore’s peak electricity demand is expected to grow by at least 3.7 per cent over the next six years, reaching between 10.1 gigawatts (GW) and 11.8 GW by 2030.

“Additional power generation capacity will be required in 2029 to meet the projected growth in electricity demand and ensure the power system’s reliability,” said EMA.

Since 2024, all new and repowered natural gas power plants must be at least 30 per cent hydrogen-compatible.

The award to PacificLight Power follows a 2024 call for proposal by EMA to have two more plants up and running by 2029 and 2030.

In October 2024, YTL PowerSeraya began construction on an S$800 million power plant that is up to 50 per cent hydrogen-compatible, to be completed by 2027.

Sembcorp, Meranti Power and PacificLight Power have five other plants in the works. The four plants by Meranti and PacificLight are expected to be ready in 2025 – these are “fast start” ones that will augment electricity in the event of sudden shortfalls in supply. PacificLight’s two fast start facilities will have a capacity of 100 MW.

Keppel is also building a hydrogen-ready plant on Jurong Island – the Keppel Sakra Cogen Plant is expected to be completed by the first half of 2026.

It will be built on a largely brownfield site that was previously occupied by a chemical plant. In 2023, an environmental impact assessment report for the power plant’s development was criticised by the nature community here, which said the report lacked rigour and paid inadequate attention to the plant’s impact on land-based biodiversity.
 

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.