Natural gas is expected to continue to power more than 50 percent of Singapore’s energy needs by 2035.

Singapore launches grant call for natural gas power plants to study carbon capture and storage

SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN) -- Singapore is taking steps to study how planet-warming carbon dioxide (CO2) from natural gas power plants can be captured and locked away, as the Republic is likely to continue relying on fossil fuel over the next few decades.
Natural gas is expected to continue to power more than 50 percent of Singapore’s energy needs by 2035. Currently, it represents more than 90 percent of the electricity mix, with the energy sector accounting for around 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.
The Energy Market Authority (EMA) has issued a grant call to study two methods of deploying carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies in the sector to remove carbon emissions and store them in deep underground structures, announced Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong on Oct 21 at the Singapore International Energy Week
The first method involves installing an on-site unit to capture CO2 from exhaust gas, after the natural gas has been combusted. The waste gas typically contains CO2, water vapour, nitrogen, and oxygen.
The Straits Times previously reported that research is underway to determine the most cost-effective way of capturing CO2 from the natural gas plants, as its low concentration in exhaust gas makes it difficult to extract.
The other technique involves capturing the CO2 generated when hydrogen is produced from natural gas.
The hydrogen can be combusted to generate electricity and does not produce any CO2 when burned. However, it is only considered a clean fuel if no CO2 is emitted in its production process.
From 2024, all new and upgraded natural gas power plants must be able to run on at least 30 percent hydrogen, and be retrofitted to run on 100 per cent in the future.
In tandem, the Singapore Government is developing a CCS project to collate CO2 emissions on Jurong Island for overseas storage, with the first phase likely to start around 2030.
It is looking to collaborate with Indonesia, which has passed a law to allow CCS operators to set aside storage capacity to lock away carbon dioxide from international entities.
The Government is partnering an industry consortium formed by ExxonMobil and Shell, known as S Hub, to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of cross-border CCS projects.
S Hub has plans to develop a CCS project that can permanently store 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 a year by 2030, either in rock formations deep underground, or under the seabed.
Should the power sector succeed in capturing its emissions, it would be able to leverage future phases of the cross-border CCS project on Jurong Island, said EMA.

(Latest Update October 21, 2024)