Singapore EMA Clears 900MW of Malaysian Solar Imports Targeting 2029 Start
Conditional approvals for two cross-border solar-and-storage schemes accelerate Singapore's effort to replace LNG-fired generation with lower-cost regional renewable power.
Singapore's Energy Market Authority granted conditional approvals in August (2026-08-10) for two projects to import a combined 900 megawatts of renewable electricity from Peninsular Malaysia, Asian Power reported. Sembcorp and Ditrolic will each develop solar generation and battery storage in Johor state, both targeting 2029 for commercial operations.6
Both projects contribute to Singapore's stated goal of sourcing 6 gigawatts of low-carbon electricity imports by 2035. The city-state's carbon tax, combined with those import plans, is already raising costs for carbon-intensive domestic generators while improving the economic position of cleaner-power suppliers, according to Asian Power's March (2026-03-26) analysis.5,6
Asian JKM LNG front-month prices stood at $27.51 per MMBtu on Monday (2026-09-21), the benchmark fuel for Singapore's gas-fired generation fleet. Energytracker Asia estimated in April (2026-04-08) that solar deployment could reduce LNG costs across ASEAN economies by up to $67 billion in aggregate as regional gas prices remain elevated. That figure covers many markets, but Singapore — running its power system on imported gas with no domestic fossil fuel buffer — sits at the sharper end of any LNG price move.1
The supply pipeline under development extends well beyond the two approved Johor schemes. CRE International, a unit of China National Nuclear Corporation, has signed a separate agreement with Singapore's Equator Renewables Asia to build a 900MW solar facility paired with 1.2 gigawatt-hours of battery storage, set for completion by 2029 with projected annual output of 830 GWh, The Star reported in May (2026-05-29).2
Separately, a project in Indonesia is slated to export 300 megawatts of clean electricity directly to Singapore. CATL will supply half the battery storage equipment for that scheme, The Star reported in May (2026-05-29).2
Chinese companies have positioned themselves across much of this build-out. Senior Singaporean officials told The Star in May (2026-05-29) that Chinese energy firms are poised to play an important role in Southeast Asia's green transition, which envisions cross-regional grid integration eventually running from mainland China through the Malay peninsula into island markets.2
Global solar installation rates are amplifying the regional push. The Diplomat noted in April (2026-04-13) that 511 GW of new solar capacity was added worldwide in 2025 alone, driven largely by panel costs falling far enough to make the technology price-competitive with fossil fuel generation. Southeast Asia is among the faster-moving regions.4
Vietnam, another import-dependent economy along the same supply corridor, is developing comparable procurement structures. Samsung Electronics' Thai Nguyen factory began receiving solar power on June 1 (2026-06-01) under Vietnam's first grid-connected direct power purchase agreement, a 70 GWh annual arrangement projected to cut carbon dioxide emissions by more than 46,000 tonnes per year, TechTimes reported in June (2026-06-02).3
Yet Vietnam's transition is advancing alongside competing pressures. EVN disclosed in June (2026-06-22) that it had stepped up coal procurement for domestic generation amid escalating Middle East tensions, Vietnam News reported — even as the Samsung DPPA gave manufacturers across Vietnam a working template for clean-energy procurement.7,3
For Singapore, the concentration of risk around 2029 is plain. The two Johor projects and the CRE-Equator facility all share that completion target. Any slippage would leave Singapore's gas-fired generators running on JKM-priced LNG into the early 2030s, with no approved replacement capacity in the queue and a 6 GW import goal set for 2035 that grows harder to meet the later the builds run.6,2