Singapore To Get 37 Electricity Substations Powered By Rooftop Solar Panels By 2025

Rooftop solar panel installations totaling 15.7 megawatt-peak will be made by Singapore Power Group (SP) at 37 electrical substations by the year 2025. (MWp). This is the most recent green effort by the leading utilities firm, which aims to maximise substations with low-carbon capabilities and help us meet our country’s sustainability goals.

When fully operational, the 15.7 megawatt-peak (MWp) combined solar power capacity will supply up to 21,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of renewable electricity into Singapore’s electricity grid each year, which is enough to light more than 4,500 four-room Housing Development Board (HDB) flats for a year. The ability of the substations to erect solar panels and produce solar energy was a deciding factor in their selection.

There will be three stages to the installation of rooftop solar power. By the end of 2023, the first phase of six substations with a total solar power capacity of 7.1 MWp will be finished, with the first substation at West Jurong Island having a functioning rooftop solar system by July 2023. The second batch of 19 substations with a combined capacity of 2.6 MWp will be finished by the end of 2025, followed by the second batch of 12 substations with a combined capacity of 6 MWp by mid-2024. The installed capacity of each substation will not be greater than 1 MWac.

The effort will help Singapore government’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) reach its goal of constructing at least 2 gigawatt-peak (GWp) of solar deployment by 2030 and Singapore’s plans to increase the amount of renewable energy in its energy mix. Additionally, it will help Singapore realise its long-term goal of having no emissions by 2050.

Intending to utilise electrical substations for sustainable results, SP has been working on many green initiatives. A pilot program to examine the feasibility of putting in a thermal energy storage system at the George Street substation was jointly announced in August of this year by EMA and SP. To support the growth of the Marina Bay district cooling network in the future and provide sustainable cooling to more buildings, the pilot also entails the construction of additional chillers. This is the first time that a thermal ice storage facility has been placed away from a district cooling facility.