The farm is still being conceptualised at this stage
Shell (LON:RDSA) has established an agreement with a government company from Singapore called JTC Corp to look into developing a solar farm on a section of a landfill site in the south of Singapore, it was revealed on Thursday.
The capacity of the farm on one of the Southern Islands would be 72 megawatt-peak (MWp), producing enough energy to power up to 17,500 households.
The farm is still being conceptualised at this stage, while the FTSE 1OO oil giant and JTC have now signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding.
The Energy Market Authority (EMA) and the National Environment Agency (NEA) have backed the project, which could move Singapore nearer to its goal of producing sufficient solar energy to power 260,000 households by 2025.
“This multi-agency-corporate partnership is a great showcase of the creativity and collaboration that are vital to success in energy transition. With a common goal of enabling more and cleaner energy, we look forward to exploring with our partners this opportunity to maximise the use of Semakau in a way that is compatible with its primary purpose as a landfill,” said Aw Kah Peng, Chairman of Shell Companies in Singapore.
“This project is aligned with our 10-year plan to repurpose our core business, cut our own CO2 emissions in the country and help our customers decarbonise.”
The farm will be the first major solar project in Singapore where a landfill is also used for clean energy generation.
EMA Chief Executive Ngiam Shih Chun said: “Our energy sector is moving towards a cleaner and more sustainable future. Solar is our most promising renewable energy source and is a key switch for decarbonisation. Given our limited land space, EMA has been working with government agencies and industry players on innovative ways to harness more solar energy. I look forward to the successful implementation of this offshore solar farm on Semakau Landfill which will demonstrate how we can be creative in our solar deployment.”
The Shell share price is trading sideways early on Thursday morning at 1,473.80p.