PacificLight to build hydrogen-ready power plant on Jurong Island by 2029

$1b project will be first to be paired with a large-scale battery energy storage system

- Shabana Begum

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 $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 600MW, 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 Jan 3.

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.