SINGAPORE – The International Energy Agency (IEA) is partnering Singapore to set up a regional office in the South-east Asian nation to help drive Asia’s shift to cleaner energy, the agency and the Singapore Government announced on Feb 13.

The IEA’s Regional Cooperation Centre is expected to start operations in the second half of 2024, and it will be the agency’s first office outside its Paris headquarters.

The centre will provide policy guidance, technical assistance and training. It will also focus on deploying renewables and other clean energy technologies in the region, increasing cross-border power trade and improving access to finance for clean energy investments, the IEA and the Singapore Government said in a statement.

The centre will deepen Singapore’s partnership with the IEA and will be a “strategic asset” for the agency, said the Republic’s Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng.

Dr Tan added that the centre – “the first energy-focused international organisation in Singapore” – will “energise the region’s decarbonisation journey, while continuing to provide advice on energy security and resilience”.

Singapore joined the IEA as an association country in 2016. Since then, both have strengthened their collaboration in South-east Asia, including through the Singapore-IEA Regional Training Hub and the Singapore-IEA Forum during the annual Singapore International Energy Week.

One of the criteria for full membership in the IEA is that a country must be a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The announcement of the Regional Cooperation Centre comes on the day the IEA began a high-level ministerial meeting in Paris to mark its 50th anniversary. The agency was created in 1974 to ensure the security of oil supplies after the 1973 oil crisis.

Since then, its remit has greatly expanded. In addition to energy security, the IEA focuses on all fuels and technologies, from renewables and electricity to oil, gas and coal. It also studies investment trends, energy access issues across the globe and the impacts of climate change.

The agency has become a global leader in driving the green transition away from fossil fuels, and in 2021, it called for no new oil and natural gas fields.

Its executive director Fatih Birol said the new centre “will allow us to significantly increase the IEA’s engagement with South-east Asia, which is one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing regions in the world and will be critical to the energy transition”.

“Through the centre, we stand ready to accompany all of the countries in the region as they strive to provide affordable, reliable and modern energy for all their citizens.”

Mr Ngiam Shih Chun, chief executive of Energy Market Authority of Singapore, said: “The centre will further strengthen our ability to work with the IEA to support the region’s energy transition pathways.”

While the location of the centre is being finalised, the IEA said it will be staffed initially by around five IEA officials, plus government officials from around the world, including from Singapore.

There is no discussion so far on any other IEA offices outside of Paris and Singapore, the agency said.

At the COP28 United Nations climate change talks in Dubai in December 2023, nearly 200 nations, including Singapore, supported a decision to transition away from fossil fuels. Nations also supported a tripling of global renewable energy capacity and a doubling of energy efficiency by 2030.

Achieving these goals will mean investing trillions of dollars, especially in poorer nations that need green energy but do not have the money to dramatically scale up wind, solar, battery storage, geothermal and hydropower investments.

Going green will be especially challenging for South-east Asia. Asean’s demand for energy is forecast to triple by 2050 from 2020 levels, and the region still relies on fossil fuels for most of its energy needs.

While Singapore also remains heavily reliant on fossil fuels for energy and for petrochemical production and trading, it has pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Low-carbon electricity imports, green hydrogen, energy efficiency and electric vehicles are some of the strategies to cut its emissions.

Shifting to cleaner energy is regarded as urgent if the world is to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, the IEA and the UN’s climate science body say.

Burning fossil fuels is the main driver of climate change and air pollution. Shifting to renewable energy and electric vehicles will ultimately cut emissions, reduce air pollution and reduce the huge fuel import bills that eat up a large portion of many poorer nations’ budgets.

Singapore has positioned itself as a regional clean energy finance hub, and investors based in the Republic, such as the Macquarie Group, see a US$300 billion (S$403 billion) to US$400 billion investment opportunity for renewable energy in South-east Asia up to 2030.

The Singapore Government’s programme to import four gigawatts of low-carbon electricity by 2035 has already attracted major investments and could help spur the development of regional grid interconnections.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore and several partners are also working on financing models that could help fund early coal power plant retirements in the region.