Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) released a Five-Year Energy Infrastructure Plan on October 26, 2026, which provides for five new power plants between 2026 and 2031, seven new substations, and an expanded underground cable network. The plan, announced at the opening of Singapore International Energy Week, is designed to meet rising electricity demand from industrial and digital investments while the Strait of Hormuz closure continues to disrupt global energy flows.
Key Facts At A Glance
- EMA released the Five-Year Energy Infrastructure Plan on October 26, 2026, during Singapore International Energy Week.
- Five new power plants will come online between 2026 and 2031, raising Singapore’s generation capacity by 26% from around 12 GW.
- EMA is evaluating proposals for additional generation capacity from 2032 onward.
- Seven new substations will be built by 2031 to serve areas including Changi, Pasir Ris and Paya Lebar, compared with four built over the past five years.
- Underground transmission cables will grow by 18%, from about 7,700 km to about 9,100 km, by 2030.
- EMA’s April 2026 projections placed 2031 peak demand at between 9.6 GW and 11.4 GW.
- An April 2026 EMA tender sought hydrogen-ready combined cycle gas turbine units of at least 600 MW each for 2031 and 2032.
The Energy Market Authority of Singapore released a Five-Year Energy Infrastructure Plan on October 26, 2026, setting out the addition of five new power plants, seven substations and roughly 1,400 km of underground transmission cable over the coming years. Dr Tan See Leng, Minister for Energy, Trade and Industry (Energy and Industry), announced the plan while delivering the Singapore Energy Lecture at the opening of the 19th Singapore International Energy Week.
Tan described the plan as the most significant build-up of Singapore’s energy infrastructure in decades. He said the five new power plants will come online between 2026 and 2031 and will increase the country’s overall generation capacity by 26% from around 12 GW today.
Generation Pipeline
Tan said EMA is evaluating proposals for further generation capacity to come online in 2032 and beyond. He added that the government is prepared to facilitate the entry of more new power plants if needed to support new economic investments, and will step in where necessary to ensure sufficient capacity is available.
The announcement follows a Request for Proposal that EMA launched on April 29, 2026, for new generation capacity to be operational in 2031 and 2032. Under that tender, private developers would build, own and operate hydrogen-ready combined cycle gas turbine units, comprising one unit for 2031 and up to two units for 2032, with each unit expected to provide at least 600 MW. Proposals were due by June 24, 2026, for the 2031 unit and by September 30, 2026, for the 2032 units. Public reporting on October 26 did not identify which specific projects or operators make up the five plants in the new plan.
In the April release, EMA projected that Singapore’s peak electricity demand would grow by between 2.4% and 4.8% annually over the next ten years, reaching between 9.6 GW and 11.4 GW by 2031. EMA attributed part of the demand growth to semiconductors and data centres.
Tan said in his October 26 lecture that Singapore is attracting more electricity-intensive investments and that the ability to scale generation and grid capacity quickly will be increasingly important, stating that the fastest megawatt will be the winning megawatt.
Grid And Transmission Build-Out
On the transmission side, seven new substations will be built by 2031 to support industrial demand in areas such as Changi, Pasir Ris and Paya Lebar. This compares with four substations built over the past five years.
Singapore currently has about 7,700 km of underground transmission cables carrying electricity from power plants in the southwest and north to users across the island. Tan said the network will grow by 18% to approximately 9,100 km by 2030, a length he said is more than 35 times that of the entire MRT network. EMA will coordinate the build-out with other infrastructure works to limit disruption to residents, commuters and businesses.
Tan also referred to EMA’s plan to study the feasibility of an energy infrastructure cluster on Pulau Tekong, which could include a third LNG terminal, hydrogen-compatible natural gas power plants and electricity import facilities. Separately, he said Singapore’s LNG throughput capacity will expand by 50% once a second LNG terminal comes online by 2030.
Supply Security Context
The plan was released as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues to disrupt global energy flows, according to Tan’s remarks. He said Singapore cannot insulate itself from global or regional shocks and outlined the country’s energy approach around five priorities: confidence, competitiveness, carbon, connectivity and cost.
On cost, Tan said the energy transition must never come at the expense of livelihoods and system security, and that the government will work to keep electricity affordable for households and businesses.
Publicly available details on the plan’s full contents, including project-level timelines, capital costs and named developers, remain limited to the minister’s lecture and initial media reporting.
