Singapore goes solar - 19th March 2021

Despite its diminutive size, Singapore is one of the largest per capita emitters of C02 in Asia.

The island nation's authorities have been pushing for a move to renewable sources of energy. This has presented difficulties for a country with no rivers for hydroelectricity and where the wind is not strong enough to power turbines.

Singapore is turning to solar power but even that is not without its challenges, as Sembcorp Senior Vice President Jen Tan explains.

Jen Tan: "So, after exhausting the rooftops, the available land, which is very scarce, the next big potential is actually our water area and we've got many reservoirs in Singapore that we can do floating, dual use floating and reservoir at the same time."

Stretching out from Singapore's coast into the Johor Strait, this recently constructed solar farm features 13,000 panels which are secured to the seabed. The farm can generate enough electricity to power 1,400 flats for an entire year.

Tengeh reservoir is the proposed site of an even larger solar farm. Its 122,000 solar panels will make it one of the biggest in South East Asia.

Singapore is aiming to quadruple its use of solar energy to 2 percent by 2025 and 3 percent by 2030.

However, Subhod Mhaisalkar Executive, Executive Director of the Energy Research Institute at Nanyang Technological University, believes they will need to go further.

Subhod Mhaisalkar: "I don't think Singapore has a choice. Singapore has to consider every possible option for solar cell deployment so that solar photo electricity or solar electricity can contribute anywhere between 10 to 20 percent of Singapore needs in a long-term basis.