SINGAPORE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Priyank Srivastava, Shelton M. Vaughan, Ramiro Rodriguez and Colette Tan, Duane Morris & Selvam LLP
offered by Singapore’s Economic Development Board and other government agencies to defray operating costs. We expect this to incentivise innovation and investment in energy efficiency, carbon management and advanced cooling technologies. This approach underscores Singapore’s dual focus on maintaining its position as a regional digital hub while ensuring that future expansion occurs within its broader sustain- ability agenda. Policy measures are also expected to tie in with the growing use of green financing to steer investments towards sustainable infrastructure to further sup- port the use of renewable energy in data centres. For example, in February 2025, Singtel announced that it had secured a SGD643 million green loan from a syndicate of major banks in Singapore to develop a new 58 MW data centre in Singapore. These developments are likely to accelerate the establishment of data centres designed to operate using renewable energy in Singapore. These have made attractive targets for many of our clients that prefer to acquire developed assets rather than under- take greenfield development, and we expect increas- ing activity in this area. Infrastructure funds and REITs seeking exposure to sustainable digital infrastructure are likely to participate in such transactions. Already, REITs in Singapore increasingly incorporate data cen- tres into their portfolios. For example, data centres made up 54.8% of Mapletree Industrial Trust’s assets under management as at 30 June 2025, a significant increase from 2010, when data centres were not reported to comprise any of the REIT’s portfolio. REITs concentrated on data centres, such as Singapore’s Keppel DC REIT, which was the first data centre REIT listed in Asia, are also likely to become more common. Success in achieving both its plans to expand data centre capacity and climate goals could see Singa- pore emerge as a centre for M&A activity in energy- efficient and sustainable digital infrastructure. Role of Trading Desks in the Energy and Infrastructure Sector Singapore plays a growing role in global energy mar- kets as a major energy trading hub. In particular, as the home to major trading desks of Shell, BP, Vitol and
Trafigura, Singapore is a leading trading hub for oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG). The performance of trading desks influences energy and infrastructure M&A and strategic alliances. In advising on these transactions, we typically see buyers of energy plants or portfolios evaluate trading capa- bilities as part of valuation, and energy companies acquiring new assets often seek to integrate them into their trading book to optimise margins. A strong trad- ing desk can boost and stabilise the cash flow for an energy asset by locking in favourable prices through hedging strategies and capturing green premiums through, for example, the selling of renewable energy certificates (RECs). Meanwhile, when an asset can be integrated with the buyer’s existing trading book, the buyer can aggregate the generation of energy from that asset with other sources, sell bundled energy to customers and hedge the whole book centrally. For example, Shell’s acquisition of global LNG trading company Pavilion Energy (including Pavilion Energy’s portfolio of LNG offtake and supply contracts, regasifi- cation capacity, and LNG bunkering business) in April 2025 strengthened Shell’s position in the LNG market by growing sales by a reported 4-5% per year through 2030. Expanding LNG Sector LNG is a top alternative to traditional sources of ener- gy as it is readily available, affordable and cleaner than most other fossil fuels. Amongst clients who are still relying on traditional energy sources such as diesel, we have seen increasing interest in diversifying their energy sources to include LNG. Most significantly, LNG bunker sales have surged in the maritime sec- tor. Singapore has seen substantial increases in LNG bunker sales and emerged as the leading LNG bun- kering port (as a single port) globally in 2024 with more than 450,000 tonnes of LNG supplied. This was nearly four times the volume supplied in 2023. Apart from the maritime sector, LNG is gaining traction as an energy source for industries requiring both power and cool- ing, such as food, pharmaceuticals and data centres. Singapore currently has one onshore LNG terminal. To support the growing demand for LNG, a second, offshore LNG terminal at Singapore’s Jurong Port, featuring a floating storage and regasification unit, is
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