SINGAPORE : Big industry customers of electricity are apparently
concerned about the rising incidence of voltage dips in Singapore's
power supply.
This what the Energy System Review Committee found in its review of
the gas and electricity system.
The committee, which was tasked to investigate the cause of the
power outage on June 29 last year, had announced its findings on
Thursday.
Since 2002, incidences of voltage dips in the PowerGrid have been
growing steadily.
And according to the Energy System Review Committee report, last
year saw a significant jump in voltage dips caused by PowerGrid -
which are momentary falls in the voltage level of the electricity
system.
And this raised concerns among big electricity customers about the
quality of power supply in Singapore - although they are generally
satisfied with the reliability of the grid.
Large power customers - including pharmaceuticals, chemical and
semi-conductor firms - are least tolerant of voltage dips.
They have operations and machines that are so sensitive, that a
fall in voltage - even for a split second - can cause damage and
throw production processes into disarray.
The Committee has noted that some of the causes of voltage dips are
not necessarily within the control of PowerGrid.
It has recommended that a measure of service quality be set up,
with rewards and penalties to ensure consistently good power
supply.
The Committee also fully supports a proposed incentive scheme by
the Energy Market Authority, which will set penalties for PowerGrid
based on the average performance for voltage dips over recent
years.
It is also recommending a review of the spot price mechanism -
which could penalise unrealiable operation and reward reliable and
reserve generation of power.
Peter De Wit, president (Asia), Shell Gas and Power, said, "One
example is the electricity price, where we saw a huge increase in
that, during the blackout on 29 of June, from 80 dollars per
megawatt hour to 4,500 dollars. That was a very sizeable increase.
It does show that people will react to that, and make decisions
about investments, on otherwise, based on financial
inducement."
The current price market cap is S$4,500.
The committee feels that a higher price ceiling will encourage
future capacity investment by industry players. - CNA