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Media Releases
21 Oct 2024
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- EMA will introduce three new initiatives to better harness “demand flexibility” — the ability of consumers to adjust electricity consumption in response to the needs of the power system. These initiatives focus on enhancing the Demand Response (DR) programme and enable Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to participate in the programme.
- The DR programme plays an important role in the power system by helping to manage and reduce overall system cost. Between 2023 and mid-2024, the DR programme has resulted in over $700 million in savings for electricity buyers in the Singapore Wholesale Electricity Market, such as electricity retailers, through reduced wholesale prices. More details on the DR programme are appended in Annex A.
- 3 According to a study commissioned by EMA, there is over 400MW of demand flexibility potential that is untapped in Singapore. Commercial sectors, such as those reliant on heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning, show potential for load shifting, while certain industrial processes, like those involving gas production, offer opportunities for rescheduling operations to off-peak times.
- Through the new initiatives, EMA encourages business consumers to participate in the DR programme and voluntarily reduce their electricity usage in response to wholesale electricity prices during peak demand periods. In return, they receive a share of the savings from the reduction in wholesale electricity prices.
- 5 Mr. Puah Kok Keong, Chief Executive of EMA said, "Our new initiatives are a key step in harnessing more demand flexibility. By enabling business consumers more opportunities to play an active role in demand response, we can strengthen the resiliency of power system.
- EMA launched a two-year DR sandbox in 2023 to encourage participation in the DR programme. The sandbox more than doubled the registered DR capacity from 46MW to 103MW. Businesses supported the enhancements that were introduced under the sandbox. When the sandbox ends in December 2024, EMA will keep these enhancements under the regular DR programme. These include (i) a lowered compliance threshold to recognise the nature of business operations, and (ii) two penalty waivers for non-compliance within the first six months of DR registration to allow participants to gain familiarity. Details are in EMA’s Final Determination Paper.
- Businesses with BESS with nameplate rating below 10MW can apply to EMA by 28 February 2025 to participate in the DR programme. With BESS, businesses can potentially shift their electricity consumption more flexibly from peak to non-peak periods and participate more frequently in DR. EMA has published the Final Determination Paper on the regulatory framework.
- By aggregating charging stations across different locations and/or tapping on resources such as BESS, EV Charging Operators can respond to DR events by adjusting charging speeds. EMA is collaborating with ComfortDelGro via a regulatory sandbox to pilot the participation of the latter’s EV charging stations in the DR programme. This will explore how ComfortDelGro’s network of nearly 1,000 charging stations can adjust charging volumes during DR events, helping to balance demand and supply in the electricity grid. EMA welcomes more collaborations with interested stakeholders on how EVs can serve as flexible assets to enhance our energy resilience.