SINGAPORE - The Energy Market Authority (EMA) has put out a second call for proposals to supply electricity to Singapore from renewable energy sources.

It had issued the first request for proposal in November last year - to import about 1.2GW of electricity from 2027 onwards. Submission of the bids closed on April 14.

In a statement on Friday (July 1), the authority said it is now open to a second round where participants may submit non-binding proposals as an expression of interest for preliminary discussions with EMA, before developing their proposals further for final submission.

Those keen can submit before 3pm on Dec 29 next year.

The two requests for proposal will account for the import of up to a total of 4GW of low-carbon electricity to Singapore by 2035, as part of efforts to decarbonise the energy sector.

This is expected to make up around 30 per cent of Singapore's electricity demand then.

EMA said that potential importers will have to demonstrate their supply reliability, credibility, track record, cost-competitiveness, and ability to supply and manage the carbon output of their power generation supply.

Proposals for electricity supplied using coal-fired generation technologies will not be accepted, it said.

The authority also said that it had received 20 proposals to supply electricity from sources such as solar, wind, hydro and geothermal power from four countries - Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia and Thailand - in the first round.

As it had received requests from the first round participants for more time to develop their proposals, EMA will be combining both requests for proposal.

Proposals which have been submitted under the first request will automatically be considered under the second one, without having to be submitted afresh, it said.

These efforts come as EMA has also been working with various partners over the past few years on trials to import electricity, in preparation for large-scale imports.

The trials allow EMA to assess and refine the technical and regulatory frameworks for importing electricity into Singapore, it said.

The Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project, which involves the import of up to 100MW of electricity from Laos to Singapore via Thailand and Malaysia, began last week.

It marked the first multilateral cross-border electricity trade involving four Asean countries and the first renewable energy import into Singapore.