In Parliament

Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Minister for Transport 

a.     what is the plan to switch Government-owned vehicles used for essential public services, such as Police cars and ambulances, to electric vehicles; and 

b.     what are the measures in place to prevent these essential public services and transport from being disrupted in case of a large-scale blackout or disruption to the national power grid.

Reply by Minister for Transport S Iswaran:

1.     The public sector is taking the lead on environmental sustainability under the GreenGov.SG initiative. All new cars procured and registered by public sector agencies from 2023 onwards will run on cleaner energy with zero tailpipe emissions. Other vehicles procured from 2023 onwards would also run on cleaner energy. This can include other options beyond electric vehicles such as hybrids, depending on the availability of vehicle models in the market that meet the operational requirements of the respective agencies.

2.    With regard to the scenario of a large-scale blackout or disruption, Singapore’s power system is one of the most reliable in the world. The Energy Market Authority (EMA) and SP PowerGrid (SPPG) have contingency plans in place to restore electricity supply expeditiously in the event of power outages. In addition, essential services have their own contingency plans to ensure that they are not affected by power outages, such as deploying mobile power generators to provide temporary power supply.