Singapore, 30 January 2023 – YTL PowerSeraya Pte. Limited (“YTL PowerSeraya”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of YTL Power International Berhad (“YTL Power International”), and TNB Power Generation Sdn Bhd (“TNB Genco”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tenaga Nasional Berhad (“TNB”) have jointly announced an agreement to export and import 100 megawatts (MW) of electricity from Malaysia to Singapore via the newly upgraded interconnector.
This marks the first time electricity from Malaysia will be supplied to Singapore on a commercial basis, adhering to the Malaysian Energy Commission’s Guide for Cross-Border Electricity Sales (“CBES Guide”). The CBES Guide, which was released in Dec 2020 and revised in October 2021, is developed to facilitate cross-border electricity between Malaysia and a neighbouring country towards the vision of the ASEAN power grid.
YTL PowerSeraya was awarded the electricity importer licence for Malaysia for a two-year trial by the Energy Market Authority of Singapore (EMA) after a competitive Request For Proposal (“RFP”) process in October 2021, and will purchase the electricity from TNB Pasir Gudang Energy Sdn. Bhd., a wholly owned special vehicle company by TNB Genco. Both parties will work closely with the EMA and the Energy Commission to refine all technical settings and regulatory arrangements under the Electricity Import Framework and the agreement will be effective upon fulfilment of conditions precedent.
On 30 January, this collaboration was made official at an exchange of documents ceremony for the Cross-Border Electricity Purchase Agreement and witnessed by Singapore’s Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry Dr. Tan See Leng, and Malaysia’s Minister of International Trade & Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.
Mr. John Ng, Chief Executive Officer of YTL PowerSeraya, said, “YTL PowerSeraya, together with YTL Power International, is honoured to work with TNB Genco, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TNB, the national electricity utility in Malaysia, to contribute our part in diversifying Singapore’s energy sources and further enhancing the nation’s energy security. We believe that this is the first step in our vision of a strong ASEAN power grid, where electricity imports may eventually form a key part of Singapore’s energy mix.”
Dato’ Nor Azman Bin Mufti, Managing Director, TNB Genco, said, “This is a positive step for the strengthening of cross-border energy supply towards the realisation of a fully interconnected Asean Power Grid. This will mark TNB Genco’s maiden foray into Singapore market via Cross-Border Electricity Sales and we hope this will become the catalyst to capture future projects in this market.
YTL PowerSeraya is the only party in Singapore with prior experience in cross-border power trade and financial settlements having traded across the interconnector to supply electricity to TNB in Malaysia in 2011 and 2013.
