In a country where two thirds of its 5,000 mW of generated electricity is powered by gas instead of oil, its gas supply is vulnerable to disruptions. Singapore pipes its gas from neighbours Indonesia and Malaysia.

As part of its plan to prevent future power failures, Singapore’s utility sector regulatory body, the Energy Market Authority (EMA), has unveiled two measures for the short to medium term. The first calls for each of the island republic’s three power stations to gain access to two gas pipelines instead of the current one. The second involves interconnecting the Natuna and the Sumatra pipelines so each can draw gas from the other in the event one of the pipelines suffers a long shutdown.

This move is not without its hurdles. According to EMA Chief Executive Khoo Chin Hean, “[Interconnecting the pipelines] take time because the two pipelines operate at different gas pressures and are under different commercial contractual frameworks. For the long-term, the EMA is considering a facility for alternative fuel sources such as liquefied natural gas, and building storage tanks for gas reserves.”

“If approved, the LNG facility should be operational after 2010,” he added.

The 29 June debacle, which was Singapore’s worst blackout in 10 years, was caused by a faulty solenoid leading to a shutdown of a pressure valve at an onshore facility, which in turn led to the disruption of gas flow to power stations whose backup systems failed to kick in.