RHTLaw Asia LLP Managing Partner Azman Jaafar toldthat under the said provision, section 6 of the Electricity Act will be amended, such that EMA “will not be required to obtain an electricity license to acquire, build, own, and operate critical infrastructure that generates electricity.”
“In addition, imposing high technological barriers for newcomers to enter the market can be construed as an abuse of dominance and can be deemed as an anti-competitive behaviour,” Jafaar said, emphasising that this counters the law’s chief aim to create a competitive market framework for the industry.
Furthermore, a provision of the energy bill repeals section 12 of the Energy Market Authority of Singapore Act or the power to borrow which allows EMA to raise capital or issue bonds to finance the construction of critical energy infrastructures. The extensive powers given to the EMA under the bill, however, can be justified for several reasons, according to Jafaar. Singapore’s energy market is “far too small,” and EMA will allow the country to “ safeguard the reliability” of its energy generation sector.that whilst concerns raised about the bill are legitimate, it may be premature at this stage.
“As we have seen in other markets such as the offshore wind sector in Taiwan, investments will follow wherever the funds go, and the funds will go where there is future money,” he said. More importantly, Chong said allowing EMA to acquire, build, own, and operate power plants and infrastructure, and to fund these steps are also “extremely helpful” towards Singapore’s Clean Energy Transition.