By
47 min ago 3 min read
Singapore plans to introduce biomethane as a replacement for fossil gas from 2028 under a new pilot scheme, alongside a S$143m ($112m) commitment to R&D for industrial decarbonisation.
The announcements were made by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong at the inaugural Singapore Industry Decarbonisation Forum on 23 October.
Three power generation companies – Keppel Energy, Sembcorp Utilities and Tuas Power Generation – have been appointed as aggregators to import and supply biomethane under the pilot.
The companies will import and supply biomethane equivalent to up to 300MW of power generation capacity from regional and international sources under a 15-year scheme beginning in 2028.
Produced from organic materials such as food and agricultural waste, biomethane can be used as a lower-carbon alternative to natural gas. Singapore relies on natural gas for around 95% of its electricity generation.
The initiative comes as Singapore looks to expand its data centre capacity, with the sector’s growing electricity demand adding pressure to secure lower-carbon energy sources.
In August 2025, Indonesian gas company PT PGN signed a deal with NeutraDC Singapore to for planned data centres, with the gas expected to be produced from palm oil mill effluent.
Alongside the biomethane initiative, Gan announced S$143m in funding for the R&D and commercialisation of low-carbon technologies, including carbon capture, carbon utilisation and emerging solutions such as the electrification of industrial heating.
“Our industries account for around 65% of our emissions, including emissions from the electricity that they use,” said Gan. “We cannot achieve net-zero by 2050 without reducing these emissions significantly.”
The initiative will be led by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Advanced Energy and Decarbonisation Office (AEDO).
Up to S$100m ($78.2m) will be allocated to the new Decarbonisation Research for Industry, Ventures, and Enterprise programme. It will allow companies, including start-ups and technology providers, to initiate and design R&D projects in partnership with Singapore’s public research institutions.
The government will co-fund up to 75% of qualifying project costs, with applications opening on 23 October.
The initiative forms part of Singapore’s S$800m ($626m) Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2030 Decarbonisation Grand Challenge, which aims to advance low-carbon technologies towards commercialisation and deployment.
The government also announced a memorandum of understanding between energy company TotalEnergies and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s Institute of Sustainability for Chemicals, Energy and Environment to explore R&D collaboration on carbon utilisation technologies for industrial decarbonisation.
A separate announcement saw AEDO award S$65m ($51m) through its Low Carbon Energy Research Scale-up Grant to five projects progressing technologies towards deployment in industrial settings.
“Decarbonisation is essential to keeping Singapore’s manufacturing sector competitive. The challenge is to develop solutions that are both effective and commercially viable,” said Jermaine Loy, Managing Director of EDB.
