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Singapore
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Could nuclear energy be Singapore’s net-zero ‘game changer’?

  • The city state, which has limited land space and few renewable energy options, is studying a future with nuclear power as it seeks to decarbonise
  • While nuclear technology could be the answer, analysts say events such as the Fukushima accident continue to weigh on public perceptions about safety

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Water vapour rises from the cooling towers of a nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic. Singapore is studying a future with nuclear energy as it seeks to diversify its energy sources. Photo: AP
Dewey Sim
It is 2050. Singapore has started generating nuclear power and about one-tenth of its energy comes from nuclear sources. The city state’s once-heavy reliance on natural gas has now shifted to low-carbon hydrogen for its electricity needs.

This is one possible scenario being looked at by a high-powered team tasked by the government to study the city state’s energy transition.

A future in which Singapore, an island in the centre of Southeast Asia with no hinterland to act as a buffer zone, embraces nuclear energy would be more likely if the world order was “fragmented politically”, according to the Energy 2050 Committee, and if there was an acceleration in technology development.

Pedestrians cross junction in Singapore. Observers say the city state may embrace nuclear energy if the world are was ‘fragmented politically’. Photo: AFP
Pedestrians cross junction in Singapore. Observers say the city state may embrace nuclear energy if the world are was ‘fragmented politically’. Photo: AFP

“Under these circumstances, Singapore makes proactive investments in new technologies to decarbonise and banks on hydrogen as its main source of supply,” it said in a report published in March.

The report, commissioned by the country’s Energy Market Authority (EMA), also offered alternative scenarios for the future of Singapore’s energy security, including boosting electricity imports and working with other nations to seek new solutions even if technological advancements stalled in the coming decades.

As Singapore maps out ambitious plans to reduce its natural gas use, lawmakers have in recent weeks debated whether the city state could tap into alternative sources of energy – nuclear included.

Similar discussions are being had in Europe. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has triggered renewed interest for countries to diversify their energy sources and expand nuclear power, as a means to cut off their reliance on Russian energy.
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