This press release was jointly issued by EDB and JTC.
Jurong Island, the cornerstone of Singapore’s Energy and Chemicals (E&C) industry, marks its 25th anniversary this year. From its ambitious beginnings as a project to combine seven small islands in the south of Singapore into a single 3,000 hectare landmass, Jurong Island is now one of the world’s top integrated energy and chemicals complexes, home to over 100 global energy and chemicals companies such as ExxonMobil, BASF, Chevron Oronite, Mitsui Chemicals and Sumitomo. Companies benefit from Singapore’s facilitative business environment, strong connectivity and over 100 km of pipelines enabling shared infrastructure on the island to serve customers worldwide.
Energy and Chemicals is the second-largest sector in Singapore’s diversified manufacturing industry, accounting for around 3% of Singapore’s GDP and about one quarter of manufacturing output in 20241. Global E&C companies continue to site complementary business activities here, ranging from regional headquarters (HQs) to trading operations, and R&D centres. The E&C sector provides employment for more than 27,0002 workers, including in new job roles arising from green growth and sustainability such as biomanufacturing and industrial biotech, carbon and energy management, sustainable product R&D, green procurement and decarbonisation.
Singapore’s E&C industry steps up low-carbon transformation
As the global energy and chemicals industry shifts towards a greener future, Jurong Island is pivoting to serve growing demand for decarbonisation solutions, specialty chemicals, sustainable materials, circular feedstocks, and new energies.
In 2021, the Sustainable Jurong Island plan3 was launched to transform the island into a sustainable E&C hub and strengthen the sector’s long-term competitiveness. The government has also been working closely with established industry players to upgrade and decarbonise existing operations, positioning the sector for long-term growth.
Jurong Island is on track to meet the 2030 targets set out for the E&C sector under the Sustainable Jurong Island plan.
- There has been an increase in the sector’s output of sustainable products by 1.4x since 2019, putting Singapore on track to achieve a 1.5x increase by 2030. Companies here are investing in upgrading their facilities -- for example, ExxonMobil’s Singapore Resid Upgrade Project will enable the refinery to increase production of cleaner fuels and convert fuel oil and other bottom-of-the- barrel crude products into higher-value lube base stocks and distillates.
- Singapore’s refineries and crackers rank within the top half of the industry for energy efficiency4 and are working towards top quartile.
- To meet the target of realising at least 2 million tonnes of carbon capture by 2030, the government formalised a partnership with S-Hub - a consortium of Shell and ExxonMobil – to study the viability of developing a cross-border carbon capture and storage (CCS) project from Singapore. When fully developed, the project will be capable of capturing and storing at least 2.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
Since 2021, EDB has awarded 35 projects from the industry with the Resource Efficiency Grant for Emissions (REG(E)) grant. This scheme provides funding to companies for innovative solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve resource efficiency. Projects that received grants span explorations into energy efficiency and new decarbonisation pathways such as alternative fuels, wastewater biotreatment, and carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), with many of them taking place on Jurong Island. Projects from companies such as Evonik, ExxonMobil, Linde and Air Liquide are expected to abate more than 340 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide per annum when completed -- equivalent to taking 80,000 cars off the road. Companies are also adopting best practices in energy management, as seen in Chevron Oronite being awarded Excellence in Energy and Greenhouse Gas Management at the 2023 Energy Efficiency National Partnership (EENP) Awards and many E&C companies being recognised at the EENP Awards over the years.
Please refer to Annex A for details.
Jurong Island: Powering the future of low-carbon innovation
Looking ahead, EDB and JTC will focus on two areas to develop Jurong Island’s global ambitions:
- A vibrant hub for Specialty Chemicals and Sustainable Materials
EDB has seen increasing interest from specialty chemicals players to grow their presence in Singapore. Since 2021, there have been over 30 new specialty chemicals projects across manufacturing and R&D from global companies such as Arkema, Cariflex and Kuraray, with many located on Jurong Island. When fully realised, these investments are expected to create more than 1,000 jobs, across roles in manufacturing operations, R&D and innovation, process engineering, sustainability, and corporate functions for both fresh graduates and experienced hires.
Specialty chemicals are expected to drive value-added growth in the chemicals industry, with an average Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of around 4– 5%5 compared to overall chemicals CAGR of between 2.5–3.5% from 2025 - 20306.
This growth is fueled by trends such as an expanding middle class in Asia, spurring demand for higher-quality products across consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, electronics, and advanced materials. Sustainability goals worldwide are also driving demand for innovative solutions such as bio-based polymers, low-carbon coatings and green solvents.
Jurong Island’s tight ecosystem facilitates collaboration across related industries, creating opportunities to co-develop such innovative materials. Singapore's strong R&D capabilities, talent base and regional connectivity further support companies in scaling the production of specialty chemicals and sustainable materials to meet rising demand.
Please refer to Annex B for examples of specialty chemicals companies that have invested in Singapore since 2021. - A global testbed for New Energies and Low-Carbon Technologies
With its integrated ecosystem and strong industry base, Jurong Island is well- positioned to be a premier testbed for developing, piloting and scaling new energies and low-carbon technologies.
- New Energies
Close to 300 hectares of land on Jurong Island has been set aside for the development of new energy solutions.
- Sembcorp Solar Singapore operates the island’s largest solar deployment with a solar capacity of 118 MWp — equivalent to powering over approximately 33,200 four-room HDB flats annually.
- Companies are using Jurong Island to pilot next-generation fuels such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), hydrogen and ammonia in real industrial settings, with access to shared pipelines, storage and facilities that reduce cost and complexity. This year, IHI Corporation and A*STAR announced the launch of a bench-scale production test rig to produce SAF from hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Earlier this month EMA and MPA appointed a consortium led by Keppel Ltd to explore low-or-zero carbon ammonia solutions on Jurong Island for power generation and bunkering.
- Batteries will also be critical for grid reliability. Sembcorp Industries currently operates Singapore’s largest utility-scale Energy Storage System (ESS) with a 326MWh storage capacity on Jurong Island.
- Under the Jurong Island Renewable Energy RFP by EMA and JTC, Advario Asia Pacific and Singapore start-up VFlowTech will explore scaling a vanadium redox flow battery to 40MWh – equivalent to powering over 3,000 four-room HDB flats daily.
Please refer to Annex C for examples of pilot projects for new energies on Jurong Island.
- Low-Carbon Technologies
Low-carbon solutions from CCUS, electrification and energy efficiency to circular plastics are being piloted and scaled across Jurong Island. To support this, the government continues to invest in sustainable infrastructure and capabilities. Announced earlier this year, A*STAR will be opening a S$62.5 million Low Carbon Technology Translational Testbed (LCT3) on Jurong Island. This will offer companies cost-effective, modular test-bedding of emerging low carbon technologies that can be scaled up for commercial development. Companies such as CRecTech, FlueVault, Metha8 and Turnover Labs have since expressed interest in tapping on this new facility to scale their solutions. The government has also committed more than S$180 million to the Low Carbon Energy Research (LCER) programme to advance low-carbon technologies across sectors.
Please refer to Annex D for examples of low-carbon technology projects on Jurong Island. - Singapore’s largest low carbon Data Centre Park
About 20 hectares of land on Jurong Island have also been set aside for the development of Singapore’s largest data centre park, with the potential to accommodate up to 700MW of power capacity for data centres. Operators can leverage the island’s ecosystem, such as shared energy storage infrastructure and utilities, ample power capacity as well as emerging low carbon energy sources. This is in line with the 2024 Green Data Centre Roadmap7 that was introduced for the continued growth of the digital economy in tandem with sustainability. New data centres will be required to meet efficiency standards, adopt advanced cooling systems, and tap renewable energy sources.
Please refer to Annex E for an illustrative map of Jurong Island and its ongoing initiatives under the refreshed direction.
