Lim Sam San was awarded the Undergraduate Scholarship from Singapore Power and joined them in 1997 as an Electrical Engineer after graduating from the National University of Singapore. He was posted to PowerSupply Limited and participated in the design of the Singapore Electricity market and played a part to prepare PowerSupply for their role as the Market Support Services Licensee.

In 2000, he joined Tuas Power Limited to start-up their retail business and moved on to join Air Products Asia to assume the role of Regional Energy Manager (Asia). In June 2009, he joined YTL PowerSeraya Pte. Limited as the Vice President of Retail and was promoted to Senior Vice President in January 2014.

1.SIEW’s 2015 theme “Global Energy Transitions” examines the changes ahead as a result of shifts in energy dynamics. What in your view will be the next major transition ahead and how do we equip ourselves to take advantage of the opportunities it presents?

The shift will be towards combating climate change, which includes greater use of gas, improving energy efficiency and increasing utilisation of renewable energy. Macro drivers such as movement in the global energy market, as well as micro drivers such as a change in consumer behaviour, will be key.

Singapore has been operating a liberalised electricity retail market for 14 years. Hence the industry, including Seraya Energy, already has a good understanding of and experience in servicing the needs of commercial and industrial customers of all sizes and we have observed how they have changed over time to be more receptive to energy efficiency and renewable energy. Our in-depth interaction and understanding of our local users thus puts us in good stead to step up to these challenges to support the growth of sustainable energy and meet their needs at the same time.

2. How has the oil price decline impacted electricity generation and its future outlook?

Oil price decline lowers the cost of electricity generation, and benefits consumers as these savings are passed to them over time. The slowing growth in the economy has led to softer growth in electricity demand and thus impacts the generation business. The volatility of oil prices also introduces challenges for generators and our customers in managing their costs.

However, from a positive point of view, the current drop in oil price brings about a lower gas price, and provides an opportunity to encourage businesses in the region to increase its use of natural gas, which is a cleaner form of energy.

3. Looking to the future, how does Seraya Energy encourage consumers to achieve improved energy efficiency – an increasingly important target due to global environmental pressures and Singapore’s lack of natural energy sources?

Seraya Energy constantly seeks to listen to its customers to determine their business requirements and tailor solutions to address their needs.  There are three main concerns that consumers have from adopting the means to improve energy efficiency.  They include a lack of resources to identify projects, a lack of funding and the challenge in estimating pay-back for projects due to uncertainty in future energy prices. Seraya Energy’s focus is to help customers in these aspects, where we try to tailor for them a solution by working hand-in-hand with them to help achieve energy savings in their business operations, as well as providing timely information to assist in their decision-making in energy procurement.

For example, our Greenplus energy package helps them better manage their energy efficiency levels. In addition, we encourage our customers to save electricity through our environmental initiatives, which include our annual Earth Hour programme, as well as the Energy Makeover programme. Since our Energy Makeover Programme started in 2013, we have helped customers save an approximate 163MWh annually, which also translates to a carbon dioxide reduction of 75tonnes annually. We also provide our customers with energy saving tips from time to time, so they can be reminded to practice responsible energy habits.

4. How can Singapore strengthen resilience of our energy systems?

Diversifying energy sources is one key approach to strengthening energy resilience, and Singapore’s move to look into multiple sources is a step in the right direction. For example, Singapore is already planning a second LNG terminal to meet anticipated demand for natural gas. Currently, the local market is already very active, looking into various energy sources like solar energy, LNG, developing pipelines and more.

5. There is much discussion on advancing the ASEAN Power Grid. What opportunities does the Grid present for utilities in ASEAN?

In the ASEAN region, there are still many areas which do not have electricity. An interconnected ASEAN Grid would mean providing electricity at a lower cost to some of these areas. Electricity has a wide impact on society as a whole – it will raise the well-being and the economy of ASEAN.

For advanced countries like Singapore, an inter-connected power grid will allow participation in a larger market. An inter-connected power grid also enhances the security of electricity supply and cost-competitiveness in the region.

Inter-country electricity supply is not new to YTL PowerSeraya, as we had previously worked with the Energy Market Authority (EMA) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) to export electricity to Malaysia for a month.