, UGS Energy and SilverCloud Energy – called it quits citing volatile market conditions. Dr Tan said these five retailers supply to about 9 per cent of all electricity consumers, including both residential households and commercial users.about the move to open up Singapore’s electricity market to as many as a dozen retailers.
The initiative to fully liberalise the electricity retail market in Singapore also remains viable, said Dr Tan, who is also Manpower Minister. He noted that the EMA will enhance its licensing requirements for electricity retailers and strengthen consumer protection moving forward, although such safeguards will need to be done in a “practical and realistic” manner.
Independent retailers are generally able to offer retail prices lower than the regulated tariff over the past few years due to depressed wholesale electricity prices amid an overcapacity in generation and oversupply of gas, Dr Tan said. “As a result, some electricity retailers are no longer able to sustain their operations in this challenging environment and have chosen to exit the market.”Dr Tan said the entry and exit of retailers are “features of an open and competitive retail market”, with the unusually high number of exits recently reflecting the severity of the global energy shock. A similar phenomenon is also being observed in other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Spain.
Addressing questions on whether SP Group can continue to honour the prices and contract terms of exiting electricity retailers for those affected, Dr Tan said the regulated tariff reflects the price SP pays to the generating companies for the electricity. Given Singapore’s reliance on energy imports, the country cannot be fully insulated from developments in the global energy market, Dr Tan said.
This supply has been “relatively stable”, although an incident that occurred at an upstream gas production facility in July has affected gas supply from Indonesia’s West Natuna, resulting in a 3 per cent fall in overall gas supply to Singapore since September.
You're a net energy importer. The global energy market coughs, you get pneumonia.