Jakarta. Singapore has granted five companies, including Adaro Solar International and Keppel Energy, the conditional licenses needed to bring Indonesia a step closer to exporting green electricity to the city-state.

Indonesia and Singapore have been in talks for a cross-border power trading partnership. 

Last year, the Singaporean Energy Market Authority (EMA) gave five companies what they call “conditional approvals” for 2 gigawatts of low-carbon electricity imports from Indonesia. They were Pacific Medco Solar (0.6 gigawatts), Adaro Solar International (0.4 gigawatts), EDP Renewables APAC (0.4 gigawatts), Vanda RE (0.3 gigawatts), and Keppel Energy (0.3 gigawatts). The exported electricity would come from solar photovoltaics and battery energy storage systems manufactured in Indonesia. 

Singapore announced Thursday that it would give all of the aforementioned companies conditional licenses -- the next document that they had to secure before they could export the green power. This highly anticipated conditional license became one of the key outcomes of the Indonesia International Sustainability Forum. According to Singapore’s Manpower Minister Tan See Leng, the companies had conducted marine surveys and feasibility studies.  

“[These surveys were] to obtain greater certainty for the commercial and technical conditions for their projects to succeed,” Tan, who is also the Singaporean second minister for trade and industry, told the forum in Jakarta.

“This is not a small feat. This actually recognizes that these projects are in an advanced developmental stage. The conditional licenses also signify these projects have substantially demonstrated the stringent requirements of both Indonesia and Singapore,” Tan said.

Rachmat Kaimuddin, an aide to senior minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, told the press on the sidelines of the forum that the first electrons of Indonesian low-carbon power would flow into Singapore in late 2027 or by 2028. When asked about the next steps that come after the conditional licenses, Rachmat said there was still much work to be done. 

“After the conditional license, they [need to get] an importer license. This is a permit issued by the Singaporean government. Us, the Indonesian government, also has to issue a permit. Our job on the Indonesian [government] side is to make sure that everything goes well and does not harm national interests,” Rachmat said.

The conditionally licensed five companies will work with state utility firm PLN for the cross-border transmission infrastructure needs.

The More, The Merrier 

Singapore also announced at the forum that they would be granting additional conditional approvals to TotalEnergies-RGE and Shell-Vena for electricity imports totaling 1.4 gigawatts of power. Like the previous five companies, the consortia have to make surveys, among others, before they can get a conditional license. TotalEnergies-RGE have established a joint venture called Singa Renewables, and the granted capacity stands at 1 gigawatts. Shell Eastern Trading --in partnership with Vena Energy-- will work together to power Singapore with 0.4 gigawatts of low-carbon electricity produced in Indonesia.

Singapore initially sought to import 4 gigawatts of low-carbon electricity by 2035. Tan, however, revealed that his country had raised the target to 6 gigawatts of low-carbon electricity by the same year. Companies are eligible for conditional approvals if the EMA has preliminary assessed the projects are technically and commercially viable.

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