Singapore’s marine and offshore engineering industry (M&OE) is on the growth path along with increasing global demand for clean and renewable fuel. There are many growth opportunities for your M&OE business as global demand evolves.
The M&OE industry contributed S$3.6 billion or 1% of Singapore’s GDP, and employed more than 23,000 workers in 2016. The Marine and Offshore Engineering Industry Transformation Map aims to increase the value-add of the industry to S$5.8 billion and create 1,500 more jobs by 2025.
Singapore is now a global offshore and marine hub. We service worldwide demand for ship repair, shipbuilding, rig-building and offshore engineering, as well as oilfield equipment manufacturing, and the building and chartering of offshore supply vessels.
Traditional sources of energy such as oil and coal are limited. But demand for fuel will continue to grow. The search for new sources of sustainable fuel, as seen in the diversification into liquefied natural gas (LNG) and offshore renewables, spell opportunities for Singapore companies in the M&OE industry.
There is much potential for you to build on and expand Singapore’s capacity and capabilities in oil and gas related activities into these new areas.
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) has the advantage of being the cleanest fossil fuel that is very safe and efficient to transport. The global expenditure on LNG is projected to exceed US$280 million (S$378 million) by 2021.
Demand for LNG is increasing due to several reasons:
Geographically, Singapore is well-placed to become Asia’s LNG hub, using our capacity and capabilities in M&OE, such as modules fabrication, offshore oilfield services, and systems integration.
The delivery of LNG depends on the availability of specialised infrastructure, supply chains, storage assets and transportation. You can also explore new opportunities in developments outside the traditional LNG space, such as in building and operating assets required for small-scale LNG.
The world is looking for low-carbon emission solutions, and governments are pushing this with their growing commitment to promote solar and wind as renewable energy sources.
Offshore wind is increasingly becoming a cost competitive alternative to other renewable energy sources. The global offshore wind market is expected to grow beyond US$130 billion (S$176 billion) by 2023, and Asia will similarly ride on this wave.
Asian markets have set ambitious targets for offshore wind power generation capacity – 5.5 GW for Taiwan by 2025, 30 GW for China by 2030, 30 GW for India by 2030, 13 GW for South Korea by 2030 and 10 GW for Japan by 2030.
You can capitalise on your strengths in M&OE to develop new business areas in the renewable energy industry.
In the nearer term, Taiwan is a compelling market for Singapore businesses. It is expected to contribute 25% of Asia’s total market share for offshore wind by 2025. It also has an ambitious target of having 20% of all power generated from renewable sources by 2025.
There is great potential for your company to grow in this vibrant industry as Taiwan’s supply chain is still relatively underdeveloped. Taiwan’s generally favourable business environment would also ease your entry into this market.
If you have an M&OE business and want to bring it to the next level, here are the opportunities to consider:
Acquire and integrate intellectual property and strategic assets related to the gas or LNG value chain. For example, your business can acquire capabilities in LNG containment fabrication, LNG cryogenic equipment component manufacturing and distribution, and LNG process modules engineering and fabrication.
Develop strategic partnerships or sub-contracting relationships with key project movers. This includes upstream stakeholders, such as energy trading companies, gas source owners and terminal project developers. The downstream LNG project developers include governments, power utility owners, and developers of industrial hubs and parks.
Use professional networks of advisory and engineering consultancies. This will help your company identify and develop complementary or niche capabilities that enable you to transform into LNG service providers.
Enterprise Singapore supports Singapore M&OE companies to explore opportunities locally and abroad with a suite of tools and programmes.
Find out how you can boost your capability, go global and develop talent to transform your M&OE business.