Question:
Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry whether the Government has plans for island-wide underground piping of natural gas as an alternate source of green and cheaper energy for all industrial and household users.
Written reply by Mr S Iswaran, Second Minister for Trade and Industry:
1. Mr Speaker Sir, natural gas is a clean and efficient energy source that is already widely-used in Singapore. We have two underground pipeline networks for natural gas, and a town gas network that serves three main groups of users of natural gas: power generation companies, industrial users and households.
2. Power generation companies have mostly switched from using fuel oil to natural gas, which allows for more cost-competitive electricity generation. As natural gas is a more efficient fuel, our electricity tariffs are lower than what they would have been had we continued to use fuel oil-fired power plants.
3. Many industrial users, especially the larger energy-consuming companies, use natural gas as feedstock and for industrial purposes such as co-generation of steam, electricity and cooling. Using natural gas has helped to reduce local pollutants and mitigate our carbon emissions.
4. Currently, more than half of households use town gas, which is mainly manufactured from natural gas. Since 1986, all new HDB flats are installed with town gas piping. Building owners can connect to the town gas network by installing pipes within their premises.
5. We expect demand for natural gas to grow for power generation and industrial purposes.
6. PowerGas, the owner and operator of the underground natural gas pipeline network, is currently expanding this pipeline network in the western and northern parts of Singapore in stages to meet new gas demand. The pipeline network will be progressively expanded to the eastern part of Singapore, in tandem with the expected increase in user demand.