Each electricity licensee plays a different role to ensure that homes, offices and industries have a competitive, secure and reliable supply of electricity.

• Generation companies produce electricity, and have at least one generating unit of 10 MW or above each.

• Importers import and sell electricity to Singapore.

• Retailers sell electricity to contestable consumers. There are two types of retailers:
  
  
  • Market Participant Retailers: They have to be registered with the Energy Market Company to purchase electricity from the National Electricity Market of Singapore (NEMS) to sell to contestable consumers.
  • Non-Market Participant Retailers: They need not be registered with the Energy Market Company since they purchase electricity indirectly from the NEMS through the Market Support Services Licensee.
  • For more information on becoming a retailer, please refer to the Guide and Application Checklist. For existing retailers who wish to renew their licences, please refer to the Checklist on the things to look out for.

• Wholesalers trade electricity in the wholesale electricity market, and are authorised to:

  • generate electricity by means of a generating unit which has a name-plate rating of 1 MW or more but less than 10 MW and is connected to the power grid;
  • provide ancillary services or any electricity-related product or service through a load reduction;
  • supply, sell or offer to sell electricity generated at specified premises by the Licensee by means of a generating unit to a non-residential consumer at the same specified premises.

  For generating units of less than 10 MW that wish to be paid for the electricity it exports to the power grid, the generating unit(s) must be registered with the Market Company or the Market Support Services Licensee under the Enhanced Central Intermediary Scheme (ECIS).

  Consumers can participate in the wholesale electricity market through reducing their load during times of high wholesale electricity price or system supply shortage under the Demand Response Programme and Interruptible Load Scheme respectively. For consumers who wish to offer either individual load facility or aggregated load facilities of multiple contestable consumers within the same specific zone to be reduced, the minimum load reduction of the individual or aggregated load facilities is 0.1 MW.

  Companies with a Wholesaler Licence can supply, sell or offer to sell electricity generated at a Specified Premises to a non-residential consumer at the same Specified Premises. Specified Premises are defined as any premises that: (a) are lawfully used or occupied by the Licensee for the purpose of generating electricity through a generating unit on the premises for supply and sale by the Licensee of the electricity to one or more consumers who lawfully use or occupy the premises for non-residential purposes; and (b) are also supplied electricity from a transmission system. These premises can include: (i) a single building; and (ii) a cluster of buildings under a single master-sub metering arrangement.

Due to the nature of Singapore’s electricity market, some licensees are natural monopolies.

• SP Services Ltd is the Market Support Services Licensee (MSSL), which provides services such as the settlement of bills, meter reading and data management, as well as customer transfer services for contestable consumers who switch from one electricity retailer to another. For contestable consumers who have not appointed an electricity retailer, the MSSL facilitates access to the National Electricity Market of Singapore (NEMS). It also supplies electricity to non-contestable consumers. In addition to its market support services functions, the MSSL also provides billing and payment collection of charges for use of the electricity transmission system on behalf of the Transmission Licensee.

• The Energy Market Company (EMC) is the Market Company Licensee. It operates and administers the NEMS. Besides operating and administrating the NEMS, EMC also schedules generating units and settles accounts of market participants.

• SP PowerAssets Ltd is the Transmission Licensee. It owns and manages Singapore's electricity transmission system, which transmits electricity from generation companies to consumers.

• SP PowerGrid Ltd is the Transmission Agent Licensee. It is appointed by SP PowerAssets Ltd to transmit electricity on its behalf.

• Consumers who wish to have their generation facility produce electricity primarily for their own use may apply to be an Embedded Generator. These consumers with embedded generators are allowed to connect their load facilities to the power grid for additional and/or backup electricity supply. They can also sell their excess generation in the wholesale electricity market.