Electricity providers in Singapore typically generate electricity for homes by burning fossil fuels like oil and gas. You probably already know this is not an eco-friendly or sustainable method of generating electricity at all.
Fossil fuels are a finite resource, which means eventually, Mother Earth will run out of them and then it’s ‘good game’ to us all.
However, Singapore now uses natural gas, the cleanest kind of fossil fuel, which provides around 95% of Singapore’s power. With Earth Day coming up, it might spark some of us to take a pause and examine our own carbon footprint. And if you to adopt eco-friendly habits for more than a day, how can you do so in your home?
Aside from implementing eco-friendly home improvement ideas or living in sustainable residences, you can switch your electricity provider and hop onto a green electricity plan to run a more eco-friendly household. We say: if you’re looking for a sign to make the switch and do your part for Earth Day, this is it.
Green Electricity in Singapore: What Is It?
With all the focus on restructuring the way we generate our electricity, you might be convinced to make the switch and lower the carbon output from your home. But first, what is green electricity?
In the Singaporean context, however, the term green electricity is used pretty broadly. It includes plans where electricity is generated the ‘normal’ way but bundled together with carbon offset credits. This is still sustainable in a sense because it offsets the carbon emissions produced.
In Singapore, there are 3 main types of green or renewable electricity plans that you can find from local service providers.
1. Carbon Credits
While Singapore continues to generate up to 95% of its electricity from natural gas sources, some green electricity plans try to balance out the fossil fuel output with carbon offset credits.
From your electricity usage, the retailers will estimate your carbon emission impact and obtain carbon credits for it. These credits then go towards organisations and initiatives that help offset greenhouse gas emissions, such as tree planting projects.
2. Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs)
Electricity retailers could also offer Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) as part of your home package, the same way they would offer carbon credits. But instead of offsetting greenhouse gas emissions, these RECs are paid forward to help renewable energy projects such as solar grids or wind farms.
3. Solar Electricity
Finally, the cleanest form of green electricity comes from solar energy. With solar electricity, you can be sure that your electricity is 100% clean as it does not involve fossil fuels at all. As you’ll read later in the article, Sunseap is actually the only electricity retailer that provides solar electricity.
Green Energy Providers in Singapore
Now that we have a better understanding of what green electricity means, let’s look at the 6 electricity retailers that offer eco-friendly electricity plans in Singapore. The below figures include GST and are accurate at the time of writing.
PacificLight
RECs
Sunny Side-up, 30.86¢/kWh
Geneco
RECs or carbon credits
Get It Fixed 12 month plan
with 100% carbon credit add-on, 31.94¢/kWh
with 100% carbon credit add-on, 31.94¢/kWh
Keppel Electric
RECs
ecoGreen24, 36.66¢/kWh
Sembcorp Power
RECs
Sunshine Plan, 38.82¢/kWh
Senoko Energy
RECs
LifeGreen24, 31.08¢/kWh
Sunseap
Solar
Fixed Rate 1% Solar, 42.12¢/kWh
100% Solar Plan, 45.36¢/kWh
100% Solar Plan, 45.36¢/kWh
PacificLight: Sunny Side-Up Green Electricity Plan
PacificLight offers an exclusive online plan which offsets your electrical consumption with RECs. While it is on the pricier side of plans offered by PacificLight, the Sunny Side-up eco-friendly option is only 2¢/kWh more expensive than the average plan.
The RECs will be disbursed annually, capped based on your electricity consumption at 25 RECs.
| PacificLight Green Energy Plan | Sunny Side-up Plan |
| Price | 30.86¢/kWh |
| What it is | RECs |
| Contract Period | 12 months |
Geneco: Power Eco Add-on Green Electricity Plans
As an established subsidiary of YTL PowerSeraya Pte Limited, Geneco stands out from the Open Energy Market crowd by simply allowing you to opt for a Power Eco Add-on to make your electricity plan more eco-friendly. In order to cater to your preferences, customers can choose the amount they would like to offset (from 25% to 100%) through carbon credits or RECs.
Depending on the percentage coverage you opt for, you could be offsetting between 24 to 96 trees equivalent to CO2 emissions. Here’s how much the Geneco Get It Fixed 12-month plan with or without the Power Eco Add-on:
| Amount Offset by Power Eco | Choice of carbon credits or RECs |
| 0% (no add-on) | 30.86¢/kWh |
| 25% | 31.13¢/kWh |
| 50% | 31.40¢/kWh |
| 75% | 31.67¢/kWh |
| 100% | 31.94¢/kWh |
Keppel Electric: Long-term Commitment Green Plans
Keppel Electric encourages residents to commit to a long-term pledge by only providing 24-month contracts for their eco-friendly electricity plans. That means residents would be signing up for a two-year plan powered by solar energy validated by RECs, long enough to convince them that renewable clean energy is a viable option for the future.
| Sunseap Power Energy Plan | ecoGreen24 |
| Price | 36.66¢/kWh |
| What it is | RECs |
| Contract Period | 24 months |
Sembcorp Power: Sunshine Plan
The Sembcorp Power Sunshine Plan offers a "100% green" electricity plan that retires RECs with no cap on the number of RECs per customer. These RECs are utilised for local solar energy systems, including the Sembcorp Tengah Floating Solar Farm launched in 2021.
| Sembcorp Power Energy Plan | Sunshine Plan |
| Price | 38.82¢/kWh |
| What it is | RECs and Solar Power |
| Contract Period | 12 months |
Senoko Energy: LifeGreen24 Electricity Plan
Senoko Energy provides a similar plan to Keppel Electric, but manages to maintain the plan at more affordable rates similar to PacificLight and Geneco. Senoko maintains its sustainability efforts by retiring RECs annually based on the customer’s total consumption.
| Senoko Energy Plan | LifeGreen24 |
| Price | 31.08¢/kWh |
| What it is | RECs |
| Contract Period | 24 months |
Sunseap: The Only Dedicated Solar Electricity Retailer
Sunseap offers the most expensive plans compared to the other providers thus far. However, their devotion and expertise in clean solar energy stand out amongst the crowd. As the only electricity retailer that focuses on solar energy, Sunseap currently operates in nine markets to provide pure solar energy instead of utilising carbon credits or RECs.
With Sunseap, you can opt for the Sunseap 1% Fixed Rate Plan where 99% of your energy comes from fossil fuel sources alongside the 1% of solar energy, or you can opt for the more expensive fully solar Sunseap 100% Solar Plan.
Price
42.12¢/kWh
45.36¢/kWh
What it is
1% Solar Energy
100% Solar Energy
Contract Period
6 months
6 months
Powering your Homes with Eco-Friendly Electricity Providers in Mind
As you can see, there are actually quite a few choices for the eco-conscious in Singapore. However, it must be noted that when compared to their typical, non-green electricity plans, these are significantly more expensive. It’s kind of like how fast food will always be cheaper than say, an organic salad.
Additionally, most of these are powered by non-renewable electricity but bundled with RECs or carbon credits, which isn’t as ideal as 100% clean electricity. The greenest plan available is Sunseap’s Sunseap-100 plan, but it is also the most expensive on this list.
Regardless of which electricity plan you choose, the best way to save money and the Earth at the same time is to use less of it.
For more property news, content and resources, check out PropertyGuru’s guides section.
Looking for a new home? Head to PropertyGuru to browse the top properties for sale in Singapore.
Need help financing your latest property purchase? Let the mortgage experts at PropertyGuru Finance help you find the best deals.
Disclaimer: The information is provided for general information only. PropertyGuru Pte Ltd makes no representations or warranties in relation to the information, including but not limited to any representation or warranty as to the fitness for any particular purpose of the information to the fullest extent permitted by law. While every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided in this article is accurate, reliable, and complete as of the time of writing, the information provided in this article should not be relied upon to make any financial, investment, real estate or legal decisions. Additionally, the information should not substitute advice from a trained professional who can take into account your personal facts and circumstances, and we accept no liability if you use the information to form decisions.