SINGAPORE: Whenever the sun is blazing, Mr Arun Murthy gets excited, as a mobile application on his phone would show that his house is generating more electricity than it is using.Since then, the family’s monthly electricity bill has dropped from about S$1,200 to about S$370. Apart from meeting some of the house's energy needs, the solar panels also generate excess electricity during the day that is sold back to Singapore’s power grid system operated by SP Group.
Installing the S$54,000 solar panels on his roof also means less reliance on natural gas — regarded as the cleanest form of fossil fuel and is used to generate 95 per cent of Singapore’s electricity supply, but whose prices have skyrocketed recently amid a global energy crunch. The increase in electricity prices is due to a confluence of factors, such as the Russia-Ukraine war, Singapore’s lack of alternatives for electricity and rising demand for electricity as the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, experts told TODAY.
He also noted that while the cost breakdown of generating electricity is not publicly available, industry experts have estimated that 60 to 70 per cent of the total cost is related to fuel costs. Dr David Broadstock, a senior research fellow and the head of the Energy Economics Division at the National University of Singapore's Energy Studies Institute, said the decision by Europe and other countries to stop purchasing natural gas from Russia has forced them to search for new gas suppliers.
While all these have resulted in the rise of oil and energy prices, Dr Broadstock said that key energy commodity prices have, to some extent, stabilised. EMA has also modified market rules, allowing the agency to direct power generation companies to use gas from its standby facility, allowing the authority to manage the cost impact on consumers.
Dr Broadstock added: “The more power that can be produced locally, the more secure and predictable energy costs will become. “Efficiencies used to be around 15 per cent a decade ago, and we have seen a 30 per cent improvement … it definitely makes sense from both sustainability and cost perspectives,” said Prof Mhaisalkar.
Mr Satish Prasath, founder and director of PMCE , said his company used to receive about one enquiry a day for its residential services when it first started in December 2017, but that has increased to three queries daily this year. Mr Benedict Goh, chief investment officer of UTICA, said another draw of solar panels today is the increased efficiency and return on investment.
Is its only a household's responsibility? What about businesses?
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