<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published May 8, 2009
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>April electricity demand rises after 6-month fall
Reversal seen from first half of month; a sign of recovery in the economy
By RONNIE LIM
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MORE 'green shoots' are sprouting in the economy here. Reversing six straight months of demand decline since last October, Singapore's electricity demand has started climbing again in early-April, latest Energy Market Company (EMC) figures show.
'The first half of April saw a reverse, with both demand and the USEP rising,' said Dave Carlson, chief executive officer of EMC which operates the wholesale electricity market here.
First-half April demand was 4,436 megawatts, up from 4,153 MW in January, 4,339 MW in February and 4,309 MW in March.
This pressured last month's USEP, or Uniform Singapore Energy Price, to rise to $120.24 per megawatt hour from $73.98, $95.75 and $87.18 respectively, the EMC numbers showed.
The USEP plus regulation charges, administrative charges and other components make up the wholesale electricity price, which is the net purchase price paid by wholesalers.
'The April upturn suggests that the earlier slide in electricity demand has bottomed. We are now seeing peak electricity demand of around 5,600 MW compared to 5,300-5,400 MW in Q1,' said Lim Kong Puay, president and CEO of Tuas Power.
Tuas Powers' preliminary data shows that demand for the entire April month is about 4,500 MW, which is 5 per cent up from March, he said.
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>'There is a gradual recovery in electricity demand, and we are seeing a continuation of this trend in May,' he told BT.
Sounding a more cautionary note, PowerSeraya's John Ng, who takes over as the genco's CEO next Saturday, said that it may be too early to call a demand recovery. PowerSeraya's numbers show that on a year-to-year basis, April electricity demand was still minus-5.3 per cent compared to April last year.
Typically, April demand is higher than March's due to hotter weather. Also it's the start of the financial year for some companies which ramp up production that month, he added.
Commenting on the pick-up in April electricity demand, Citigroup head of Singapore research Chua Hak Bin said: 'It's another part of the jigsaw supporting the green shoots phenomenon, and is consistent with what we saw in the PMI (Purchasing Managers' Index) numbers.'
'Things are looking up, with the recovery now looking more like a normal recovery than a slow U-shaped one,' he added.
EMC's latest electricity demand numbers lend support to the April PMI figures released earlier this week, which showed an improvement in manufacturing activity here, with the key electronics sector returning to an expansionary track.
The April PMI rose to 49.2, up from March's 47.1 reading - bringing it close to a reading of 50 which indicates expansion. The key electronics index last month rose to 51.6, after recording contractions over six consecutive months - which is very much in line with the electricity demand trend as well.
Supporting this uptrend, BT also reported this week that due largely to a recovery in demand in China, Singapore's petrochemical plants returned to near full operating capacity in the first quarter, with Q2 promising to be even better.
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</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>April electricity demand rises after 6-month fall
Reversal seen from first half of month; a sign of recovery in the economy
By RONNIE LIM
<TABLE class=storyLinks border=0 cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=1 width=136 align=right><TBODY><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Email this article</TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Print article </TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>MORE 'green shoots' are sprouting in the economy here. Reversing six straight months of demand decline since last October, Singapore's electricity demand has started climbing again in early-April, latest Energy Market Company (EMC) figures show.
'The first half of April saw a reverse, with both demand and the USEP rising,' said Dave Carlson, chief executive officer of EMC which operates the wholesale electricity market here.
First-half April demand was 4,436 megawatts, up from 4,153 MW in January, 4,339 MW in February and 4,309 MW in March.
This pressured last month's USEP, or Uniform Singapore Energy Price, to rise to $120.24 per megawatt hour from $73.98, $95.75 and $87.18 respectively, the EMC numbers showed.
The USEP plus regulation charges, administrative charges and other components make up the wholesale electricity price, which is the net purchase price paid by wholesalers.
'The April upturn suggests that the earlier slide in electricity demand has bottomed. We are now seeing peak electricity demand of around 5,600 MW compared to 5,300-5,400 MW in Q1,' said Lim Kong Puay, president and CEO of Tuas Power.
Tuas Powers' preliminary data shows that demand for the entire April month is about 4,500 MW, which is 5 per cent up from March, he said.
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Sounding a more cautionary note, PowerSeraya's John Ng, who takes over as the genco's CEO next Saturday, said that it may be too early to call a demand recovery. PowerSeraya's numbers show that on a year-to-year basis, April electricity demand was still minus-5.3 per cent compared to April last year.
Typically, April demand is higher than March's due to hotter weather. Also it's the start of the financial year for some companies which ramp up production that month, he added.
Commenting on the pick-up in April electricity demand, Citigroup head of Singapore research Chua Hak Bin said: 'It's another part of the jigsaw supporting the green shoots phenomenon, and is consistent with what we saw in the PMI (Purchasing Managers' Index) numbers.'
'Things are looking up, with the recovery now looking more like a normal recovery than a slow U-shaped one,' he added.
EMC's latest electricity demand numbers lend support to the April PMI figures released earlier this week, which showed an improvement in manufacturing activity here, with the key electronics sector returning to an expansionary track.
The April PMI rose to 49.2, up from March's 47.1 reading - bringing it close to a reading of 50 which indicates expansion. The key electronics index last month rose to 51.6, after recording contractions over six consecutive months - which is very much in line with the electricity demand trend as well.
Supporting this uptrend, BT also reported this week that due largely to a recovery in demand in China, Singapore's petrochemical plants returned to near full operating capacity in the first quarter, with Q2 promising to be even better.
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