SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Adam Moncrieff, Karthik Kumar, Lynette Lim and Kelly Choo, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
1.3 Foreign Investment Review Process There are no specific statutory restrictions on foreign ownership of electricity companies or assets. Instead, Singapore applies an ownership and control regime under Part 4A of the Electricity Act, which applies to “any person” acquiring interests in, or control over, designated electricity licensees, designated entities and designated business trusts. There are restrictions under the Electricity Act on shareholding that apply to ownership of designated electricity licensees, desig- nated entities and designated business trusts (des- ignated persons). Separately, the Significant Invest- ments Review Act 2024 of Singapore (SIRA) operate as a broader national security investment screening overlay for critical entities, and is intended to com- plement existing sectoral safeguards. The conditions of electricity licences may also impose conditions around the acquisition of shares by the licensee in certain other electricity and/or gas licensees. A designated electricity licensee, a designated entity and the trust-manager of a designated business trust must notify the EMA if any entity acquires an equity interest in such designated person that would result in it holding between 5% or more but less than 12% of the total equity interest in such designated person. This does not apply to a pro forma change, being a transaction between a person and its associate that results in the transfer to either of them of any equity interest in a designated person without any change to the equity percentage interest held by the person in such designated person immediately before the transaction. Further, the EMA’s prior approval is required in the following circumstances. • A person seeks to become a 12% controller, 25% controller, 30% controller, 50% controller, 75% controller, or an indirect controller of a designated person. • A person seeks to cease to be a 50% controller or 75% controller of a designated person. • A person seeks to acquire, as a going concern, the business (or part thereof) of: (a) a designated electricity licensee, conducted pursuant to its licence; (b) a designated entity, relating to its transmission
• Transmission – there is currently only one transmis- sion licensee in Singapore, being SP PowerAssets Ltd (SPPA), which owns the Singapore power grid, delivers electricity island-wide, and comprises a high voltage network (transmission network) and a low voltage network (distribution network). SP PowerGrid Ltd (SPPG) is the agent appointed by SPPA to build and maintain the power grid, and is licensed as an electricity transmission agent. Both SPPA and SPPG are members of SP Group. Sin- gapore Energy Interconnections (SGEI), a govern- ment-linked company tasked with development and operating cross-border electricity interconnec- tions, was established in April 2025. SGEI’s man- date covers the planning, construction, ownership and operation of regional power links. All develop- ers proposing to export electricity to Singapore must engage SGEI to confirm that their technical designs and project specifications are compatible with Singapore’s landing-site and grid infrastruc- ture. SGEI is supported by SP PowerInterconnect, a subsidiary of the SP Group, which provides technical expertise in transmission and distribution asset design, engineering and operation. • Operator of wholesale electricity market – the Energy Market Company (EMC). See 2.1 The Wholesale Electricity Market for further details. • Retail of electricity – there are currently 18 entities that hold an electricity retailer electricity licence in Singapore and are therefore licensed to engage in the retail of electricity in Singapore. These retailers buy electricity in bulk from the wholesale electricity market and compete to sell electricity to consum- ers. The most up-to-date version of this list of enti- ties from time to time can be found on the licen- sees directory on the EMA’s website. As of the date of writing, all of these entities are private limited companies (whether wholly or partially owned by private sector entities or otherwise). • Market support services – there is currently only one entity licensed to provide services such as the reading of electricity meters, management of meter data and facilitation of access to the whole- sale electricity market, which is SP Services Ltd, a member of the SP Group.
304 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook