Background

Energy Consumption in Singapore
The regulation, development, generation, sales and all other services relating to electricity supply in Singapore is managed and controlled by the Energy Market Authority of Singapore (EMA). Electricity is generated at 7 power stations at Senoko, Tuas, Pasir Panjang and Jurong Island. The total installed generating capacity as at 2004 is 11,490 megawatts (Source: EMA Website). This compared with the 2004 sales figure of 33,171.2 million kWh shows an excess generating capacity.

The 2003 sales of electricity represent a 2.8% growth in demand compared to 2002. The growth however is supported by a real expansion of demand base. This is verified, as shown in Figure 1, by the national economic data in terms of real growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to give cumulative growth in percent from 2001 to 2003.

The cumulative growth figures of GDP and electricity demand is very close, showing the importance of energy as a major element of economic activities. At the same time, the closeness of the two groups of data also shows that there was a real expansion of demand base rather than mere wastage. The data on new building space completion too agree very closely with the general trend. This group of data fluctuates slightly as it is influenced significantly by the completion of major developments and the level of production in the manufacturing sectors. The consistent trend over the four years is an important indication that the energy consumption pattern in Singapore has stabilized and matured. With this condition, energy auditing can yield meaningful results and lead to real saving.

Fig. 1: Trends of cumulative growth in energy demand with GDP. (Source: Singapore Yearbook of Statistics published by Singapore Department of Statistics)

Distribution of Energy Demand

The distribution of energy demand among the various sectors is as shown in Figure 2. The 'domestic' sector consumed the least energy, 18% of the total energy used in 2004. 'Manufacturing' is the largest sector consuming 43% of the total energy sold in 2004. 2003's data have been plotted for comparison. It can be seen that the pattern of distribution is identical between 2003 and 2004, showing the stable demand of the various sectors and the economy as a whole.

Figure 2: Electricity demand distribution among the various sectors

Review of Past Years' Energy Consumption

The charts below show Singapore's past years' energy consumption from 1991 to 2004

(Source: Singapore Yearbook of Statistics published by Singapore Department of Statistics)

(Source: Singapore Yearbook of Statistics published by Singapore Department of Statistics)

(Source: Singapore Yearbook of Statistics published by Singapore Department of Statistics) Initiatives Introduced by the Government Approved Accelerated Tax Depreciation Scheme Approved Accelerated Tax Depreciation Scheme This tax incentive scheme is provided under the Income Tax Act. The objective of the scheme is to encourage companies to replace old, energy-consuming equipment with more energy efficient ones and to invest in energy-saving equipment. Inefficient equipment not only incur high operating costs as they consume more energy but also have a negative impact on the environment as a result of higher emission of pollutants to the environment. This scheme is administered by National Environment Agency (NEA). There are 2 categories under this scheme. Category A: For Replacement Machines & Equipment any air conditioning system any boiler any water pumping system any washing or dry-cleaning machine system any refrigeration system any life or escalator any instant hot water system Category B: For Energy-Saving Equipment & Devices any solar heating or cooling system any solar energy collection system any heat recovery system any power factor controller any high efficiency electric motor any variable speed drive motor control system and high frequency lighting system any computerized energy management system Other Financial Incentives Investment Allowance Scheme (IAS) Local Enterprise Technical Assistance Scheme (LETAS) Energy Efficiency Improvement Assistance Scheme (EASe) ^ Back to top