YTL Power International Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB)’s have agreed to jointly export and import 100MW of electricity from Malaysia to Singapore via a newly upgraded interconnector.

In a statement, YTL Power said its wholly-owned unit, YTL PowerSeraya Pte Ltd, today entered into a joint agreement with TNB’s wholly-owned subsidiary, TNB Power Generation Sdn Bhd (TNB Genco).

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 Oct 2021, is developed to facilitate cross-border electricity between Malaysia and a neighbouring country towards the vision of the Asean power grid.

In a statement, YTL said both parties will work closely with the Energy Market Authority of Singapore (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.

In October 2021, YTL PowerSeraya was awarded the electricity importer licence for Malaysia for a two-year trial by EMA after a competitive request for proposal process, and will purchase the electricity from TNB Pasir Gudang Energy Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned special vehicle company of TNB Genco. 

“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,” YTL PowerSeraya CEO John Ng said.

Meanwhile, TNB Genco MD Datuk Nor Azman Mufti said the joint agreement marks a positive step to strengthen the cross-border energy supply towards the realisation of a fully interconnected Asean Power Grid. 

“This will mark TNB Genco’s maiden foray into the Singapore market via CBES Guide and we hope this will become the catalyst to capture future projects in this market,” he said.

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. — TMR / pic by TMR