Two more hydrogen-ready natural gas plants to be built in S'pore by 2030

By 2030, the Republic will have two more natural gas power plants that are also hydrogen-compatible, to meet the nation’s growing electricity needs and ensure energy security.

- Shabana Begum

On June 4, the Energy Market Authority (EMA) invited the private sector to build, own and operate two new power plants to be up and running in 2029 and 2030.

Each plant is expected to have a capacity of at least 600MW, which can power about 864,000 four-room flats for a year. This means that by 2030, there will be at least nine such hydrogen-compatible power plants in Singapore.

This call for proposal by EMA comes a few months after it was announced that YTL PowerSeraya will build an $800 million power plant by 2027. The plant, to be built on Jurong Island, will start off with a capacity to use up to 30 per cent hydrogen.

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

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