The Honourable Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (R) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, Brunei Darussalam, is currently in the Republic of Singapore attending the 15th Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW 2022) held on 25 to 28 October 2022 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands. His Honourable Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office is accompanied by Yang Mulia Pengiran Haji Jamra Weira bin Pengiran Haji Petra, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Energy), Prime Minister’s Office, Brunei Darussalam, as well as officials from the Department of Energy at the Prime Minister’s Office.
First held in 2008, SIEW is organized by the Energy Market Authority, Republic of Singapore, a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry. This year’s SIEW, with the theme “A Resilient and Sustainable Energy Future”, encompasses a high-level dialogue on energy issues through keynotes, panel discussions and audience participation in various events including the SIEW Summit, Singapore-International Energy Agency (IEA) Ministerial Roundtable, Singapore-International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) High-Level Forum, Asia Clean Energy Summit, and Asia Downstream Summit.
The Honourable Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office attended the SIEW Summit, which is an anchor event consisting of the Singapore Energy Lecture, SIEW Opening Keynote Address and Singapore Energy Summit. In delivering the Singapore Energy Lecture, His Excellency Lawrence Wong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Republic of Singapore, announced that Singapore will raise its national climate target to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, and reduce emissions to around 60 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2030. His Excellency Lawrence Wong also outlined Singapore’s national strategy to develop hydrogen, which could supply half of Singapore’s power needs by 2050.
The SIEW Summit was followed by the Singapore-IEA Ministerial Roundtable, with the theme “Energy Security in a Low Carbon World”. This event facilitated discussion among ministers and energy thought leaders from Southeast Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific region, which focused on key short-term priorities in managing the current crisis, the linkages and trade-offs between energy security and energy transitions over time, and collaboration needed to achieve an energy secure, people-centred low carbon future.
Meanwhile, the Singapore-IRENA High-level Forum, with the theme “Realising Green Energy Financing and Decarbonisation Opportunities for a Net-Zero Future”, has provided an opportunity for high-level government representatives, financial institutions, development partners and industry leaders, to come together to take stock and identify green financing pathways to strengthen the pathways and realise the full potential for end use decarbonisation technologies in the road to net-zero.
At the sidelines of the SIEW 2022, The Honourable Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office made a Call to His Excellency Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Trade and Industry, Republic of Singapore, on 25 October 2022. Both sides reaffirmed the excellent bilateral ties that Brunei Darussalam and Singapore continue to share and looked forward to further building on the energy cooperation based on the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Energy and Green Economy signed during the State Visit of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam to the Republic of Singapore on 24—25 August 2022, towards strengthening the special relationship long enjoyed by the two countries. Under the MoU, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore agreed to cooperate on policy exchanges on energy and green economy, including energy transition; emerging low-carbon technologies, such as solar, carbon capture and storage; and carbon markets, including carbon credits projects, carbon services and trading.
The Honourable Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office also had a luncheon meeting with His Excellency Dr. Tan See Leng, Minister for Manpower, and Second Minister for Trade and Industry, Republic of Singapore, and His Excellency Francesco La Camera, Director-General, International Renewable Energy Agency, on 26 October 2022, where efforts to support each other’s energy transition strategies were further discussed, and opportunities for IRENA to collaborate towards the promotion of cleaner energy technologies were explored particularly in the areas of research and development, technological innovations, and technical infrastructure.
The Honourable Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and the delegation had the opportunity to visit the Tengeh Reservoir Floating Solar Farm on 26 October 2022. Operated by Sembcorp Floating Solar Singapore, a subsidiary of Sembcorp Industries (Sembcorp), and Singapore’s National Water Agency PUB, the floating solar farm consists of 122,000 solar panels spanning 45 hectares. During the visit, Sembcorp shared their experiences and knowledge of the implementation of such a large-scale floating solar. Brunei Darussalam has been actively strategizing and working towards its target of generating 200 Megawatts of solar energy by 2025.
The Honourable Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and delegation will have a close-up view of the operations of the refinery and petrochemical complex in Singapore, where a visit to the JTC Corporation and the ExxonMobil Integrated Manufacturing Complex at Jurong Island are being scheduled on 27 October 2022.
