Singapore’s desire to shift to renewable sources of energy is running up against its geographic limitations. It hasn’t got enough space for large solar installations, there are no major rivers for hydropower and what little breeze the tropical city-state gets isn’t sufficient to push a wind turbine.
That’s forced the Southeast Asian financial and transport hub to rely on imports in its plans to transition away from fossil fuels. It’s a common strategy for small places — Hong Kong, Monaco and Bahrain are in a similar position — but it’s dependent on nearby countries being willing to export carbon-free power.
For Singapore, its plan to bring in enough clean energy from overseas to meet 30% of its needs by 2035 has already hit a snag. Neighboring Malaysia banned renewable electricity sales late last year to prioritize its own efforts to decarbonize, underscoring the risks ahead for import-reliant nations.