392 E. MOE
Where Vietnam was an outlier in being the only genuine developing
country in the book (China is now a middle-income country), Singapore
is an outlier in being a city-state. Thus, it is hard to see much potential
for wind power in Singapore, at least onshore, while offshore the wind
speeds are low and the waters crowded. Solar power can however be
installed on rooftops, and because of its very limited area, Singapore needs
more energy. It does not have any within its national borders and relies
almost entirely on imports. This means that solar PV is the only potential
domestic energy source that can credibly reduce Singapore’s emissions
intensity.
The main problem for solar, as Jindal et al. state, is making it profitable. There are no subsidies for any energy sources in Singapore. With
low and volatile electricity prices and a small and fragmented domestic
market, this makes for slow adoption of solar. It however also makes for
a very interesting case study, namely one of renewable expansion without
subsidies. In addition, the median cloud cover is 90%, thus despite being
close to the equator, PV output is intermittent. Thus, the Energy Market
Authority worries about what high solar penetration may do to Singaporean grid stability and reliability. What it means is that with present
policies, Singapore, like Vietnam, is not looking at any renewable energy
transition. But with electricity consumption increasing by around 1.5%
a year, solar may serve as a supplement to the existing energy system,
absorbing that extra energy demand.
South Korea is another intriguing case, being highly developed, with a
large economy and the world’s 7th highest electricity consumption, with
major energy security concerns and a massive research effort on developing renewable energy technology and products. And yet, it has come
very short with respect to installing renewable energy. We often think of
Japan as a wind power laggard, wind accounting for only 0.7% of its power
mix. But in absolute figures Japan has installed almost three times as much
wind power as South Korea (1.5 GW). Denmark, with less than half the
area and a tenth of the population of South Korea, has installed over four
times as much. With approximately 10 GW of solar PV South Korea is
far less of a negative outlier. This is also small compared to Japan’s almost
65 GW, and thus, the overall contribution of wind and solar to the power
mix is only around 2.5% (GWEC, 2020; pv magazine 2019). Instead, as
Kim and Sun state, 95% of South Korean energy is imported, including
98% of its fossil fuels, and they worry about the low willingness of South
Koreans to pay for renewables. The 2035 target is however for wind and
Where Vietnam was an outlier in being the only genuine developing
country in the book (China is now a middle-income country), Singapore
is an outlier in being a city-state. Thus, it is hard to see much potential
for wind power in Singapore, at least onshore, while offshore the wind
speeds are low and the waters crowded. Solar power can however be
installed on rooftops, and because of its very limited area, Singapore needs
more energy. It does not have any within its national borders and relies
almost entirely on imports. This means that solar PV is the only potential
domestic energy source that can credibly reduce Singapore’s emissions
intensity.
The main problem for solar, as Jindal et al. state, is making it profitable. There are no subsidies for any energy sources in Singapore. With
low and volatile electricity prices and a small and fragmented domestic
market, this makes for slow adoption of solar. It however also makes for
a very interesting case study, namely one of renewable expansion without
subsidies. In addition, the median cloud cover is 90%, thus despite being
close to the equator, PV output is intermittent. Thus, the Energy Market
Authority worries about what high solar penetration may do to Singaporean grid stability and reliability. What it means is that with present
policies, Singapore, like Vietnam, is not looking at any renewable energy
transition. But with electricity consumption increasing by around 1.5%
a year, solar may serve as a supplement to the existing energy system,
absorbing that extra energy demand.
South Korea is another intriguing case, being highly developed, with a
large economy and the world’s 7th highest electricity consumption, with
major energy security concerns and a massive research effort on developing renewable energy technology and products. And yet, it has come
very short with respect to installing renewable energy. We often think of
Japan as a wind power laggard, wind accounting for only 0.7% of its power
mix. But in absolute figures Japan has installed almost three times as much
wind power as South Korea (1.5 GW). Denmark, with less than half the
area and a tenth of the population of South Korea, has installed over four
times as much. With approximately 10 GW of solar PV South Korea is
far less of a negative outlier. This is also small compared to Japan’s almost
65 GW, and thus, the overall contribution of wind and solar to the power
mix is only around 2.5% (GWEC, 2020; pv magazine 2019). Instead, as
Kim and Sun state, 95% of South Korean energy is imported, including
98% of its fossil fuels, and they worry about the low willingness of South
Koreans to pay for renewables. The 2035 target is however for wind and