The Energy Market Authority (“EMA“) introduced the Singapore’s Demand-Side Flexibility Roadmap setting out various initiatives to enable electricity users to adjust consumption based on system needs. The aim is to support Singapore’s transition to net-zero emissions by 2050 by leveraging demand-side resources like electric vehicle (“EV“) chargers and battery energy storage systems (“BESS“).
Enhancement to Interruptible Load (“IL”) Programme
EMA’s IL Programme allows businesses to reduce electricity demand during system imbalances. EMA plans to reduce the IL activation period to 30 minutes for greater certainty. EMA will inform the industry of the implementation details after they have been finalised.
Harnessing Distributed Energy Resources (“DER”) and High-Availability Loads
The current IL resources are opportunistic due to operational constraints. EMA sees potential in BESS, backup generators, and high-availability loads for sustained curtailment and ancillary services.
EMA will issue a Request for Information to explore the feasibility and design of a programme that can incentivise these DER and loads that are highly available to support system reliability on a near-continuous basis.
Updates on Demand Response (“DR”) Programme
EMA expanded the DR programme to allow EV charging stations and BESS with nameplate rating below 10 megawatts (“MW“) to participate in the programme.
EV Charging Regulatory Sandbox
EMA and ComfortDelGro are running a 13-month regulatory sandbox to pilot the participation of EV charging stations and Environmental Control Systems of the SBS Transit Rail network in the DR programme. ComfortDelGro will leverage its EV Aggregation Platform and intelligent sensing for automated energy adjustments.
BESS Participation
BESS is integrated into facility energy systems to reduce grid demand during peak periods. EMA currently expects around 15 MW of BESS capacity to enter the DR programme when ready.
For details, please refer to the press release titled “New Initiatives to Bolster Power Grid’s Reliability Through Flexible Electricity Demand“.
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