This section provides more explanations on the terminology used in the NEMS Prices section.
For any enquiry on the Guide to Prices, please email to Market Operations team.

In the event that the real-time and procurement markets are suspended, the Market Rules: Chapter 6, Section 1.2.5 states that all market participants shall be settled for physical services injected onto and withdrawn from the transmission system. The prices used for this settlement may be calculated using a methodology determined by the EMA in consultation with EMC and the Power System Operator (PSO). Chapter 6, Section 1.2.5A specifies EMC to publish the methodology provided by the EMA. The methodology was provided by the EMA for publication on 1 October 2003.

Administered Pricing Methodology

The cost of purchasing regulation products from the market is co-shared by retailers, generators and importers. The AFP is determined based on the sum of regulation cost divided by the sum of the consumption (metered withdrawal quantities) of the retailers, and the injected energy quantities of generators and importers, up to 5MWh.
A commissioning generation facility means a generation facility located within Singapore that is either (a) newly constructed; or (b) significantly redesigned or rebuilt and is designated by the EMC as a commissioning generation facility and, in either case that has not yet completed the commissioning tests referred to in section 5.3.4.2 of Chapter 2 of the market rules.

On behalf of and at the request of the Power System Operator (PSO), EMC procures, primarily through contracts, certain physical services that are needed to maintain reliable system operations but are not offered on real-time markets.

The principal contracted ancillary services that EMC may procure are:
  • reactive support and voltage control service,
  • black-start capability,
  • fast-start services, and
  • reliability must-run services.

Financing Framework For Procurement Of Ancillary Services issued on 15 September 2020

Financing Framework For Procurement Of Ancillary Service

Black-start services

With EMC granted derogation from Section 8.3.1.1 of Chapter 5 of the Market Rules, EMC can procure ancillary services contract for a period not exceeding 1 year. Henceforth, in consultation with the PSO, EMC procured black-start capability services for period 01 Apr 2024 to 31 Mar 2025, details of which are tabled below:

Contracted Ancillary Services from 01 April 2024 to 31 March 2025

Total Contracted Cost incl. GST Total Contracted Quantity (MW)
Contracted Ancillary Services $11,366,797.30 88.848

Ancillary Services Contract Agreement

The cost of ancillary services is recovered by EMC through the Monthly Energy Uplift Charge (MEUC) as outlined in the Market Rules: Chapter 7, Section 4.1.

The 9 key requirements of the ancillary service to be procured for period 01 Apr 2024 to 31 Mar 2025

Ancillary Service Key Requirements

Fast-start services

Expression Of Interest to provide fast-start ancillary service issued on 10 November 2023, submission should reach EMA by no later than 24 November 2023

Expression Of Interest to provide Fast Start Ancillary Service

Request for Proposal fast-start ancillary service, submission should be submitted no later than 3.00PM (Singapore time) on 1 March 2024

Request for Proposal Fast Start Ancillary Service Version 2.0

Response to Queries issued by EMA on 13 February 2024

Response to Queries

The demand forecast reports the forecasted electricity consumption of Singapore in each half hour. The demand forecast excludes transmission losses, intertie flows and generation from exempted embedded generators.
Generation units that generate electricity to their onsite load principally for self-consumption.
These fees are the approved administrative costs for EMC and the PSO to operate the NEMS in each fiscal year. These fees are recovered from both generators and retailers based on per MWh generated or consumed.
The facility generation type refers to the various generation technologies the facility belongs to. The current facility generation types are steam turbine (ST), gas turbine (GT), intermittent generation sources (IGS), the combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) and energy storage system (ESS).
All generation facilities with 1MW or more are required to be registered in the wholesale electricity market. A generation facility may be registered as a generation registered facility (GRF) or a generation settlement facility (GSF).
Generation registered facilities which are capable of providing ancillary services may be subject to AGC control for reserves and regulation. Such facilities are marked as frequency responsive (FR) units. Other facilities are non-frequency responsive (NFR).
This is for a generator that has been registered as a registered facility to provide one or more of energy, reserve, regulation or contracted ancillary services. These generators are typically 10 MW and more in size, and are required to submit offer.
This is for a generator that is less than 10MW in size and for the delivery of energy only. These generators need not offer into the market and are not subject to dispatch by the Power System Operator. Embedded generators are usually classified as GSFs, but not all GSFs are embedded generators.
This charge captures any differences between total amounts received from retailers and total amounts paid to generators for energy, reserve and regulation products. While the HEUC is called a charge, it is typically a return to retailers of the revenue arising from the sale of energy to cover transmission losses.
Import registered facility or IRF means a facility, installation and/or apparatus used for the purposes connected with import of electricity that has been registered as a registered facility to provide one or more of energy, reserve, regulation or contracted ancillary services. The information in respect of IRF can be found as a subtype of generation registered facility in the publication of Capacity for Registered Facilities.
Sources of energy whose output depends on environmental factors and weather conditions, such as solar and wind energy. While there are IGF facilities connected to the grid in Singapore, IGS are not scheduled for dispatch by the PSO in the wholesale market because the power output cannot be controlled or varied at will.
A load that submits bids and offers in the energy and reserve markets for the purpose of providing load curtailments and loads to be interrupted.

At the end of each calendar month, EMC calculates the Monthly Energy Uplift Charge (MEUC) for the following calendar month and recovers from the load on the basis of withdrawal quantity in MWh. This charge, levied on retailers, covers the following potential payments and refunds each month:

  • the cost of procuring contracted ancillary services (e.g., black-start services) and related costs,
  • compensation claims and refunds,
  • financial penalties and refunds, and
  • the estimated monthly energy uplift shortfall to be recovered and/or deducted in the following calendar month.

Numerical information on the MEUC determined in accordance with the Market Rules Chapter 7, section 4.1.
Nodal energy prices are the prices received by generators. Nodal prices are determined according to the demand and supply characteristics of each of the injection nodes (market network nodes, or MNNs, on Singapore's electricity network).
The Reference Uniform Singapore Energy Price (RUSEP) is the uncapped counterfactual USEP when the Temporary Price Cap (TPC) is in effect. RUSEP applies to the calculation of the moving average price and the Load Curtailment Price (LCP) for Demand Response (DR) when TPC is in effect. Similar as USEP, it is the weighted-average of the uncapped nodal prices at all off-take nodes in each half hour.
The regulation price is the market price determined for regulation and the cost of regulation is largely borne by the load.
The reserve price is the market price determined for two classes of reserve products traded (primary and contingency). The cost of reserve products is borne by the generators.

A reserve provider group is a group of reserve providers that share similar effectiveness characteristics. In the standing data of the NEMS, reserve provider groups range from A to E. These correspond to a payment incentive structure range of 1 to 0.25, illustrated in the table below.

Reserve Provider Group Parameter applied on reserve payments
A 1
B 0.85
C 0.75
D 0.60
E 0.25

A reserve provider group is a group of reserve providers that have similar effectiveness characteristics. Based on the PSO's System Operation Manual (SOM), the reserve provider groups (or groups are defined as) are calculated as follows:

  1. A surge is referred to as an event in which the frequency dips by 0.2Hz.
  2. The PSO will measure all surges in a quarter. However, the PSO needs at least six surges to perform the computation(s).
  3. In the event that fewer than six surges are observed in a quarter, the PSO will use figures from the previous quarter to perform the computation.
The Uniform Singapore Energy Price (USEP) is the uniform price of energy that applies for settlement purposes for all energy injections or withdrawals that are deemed to occur at the Singapore hub. It is the weighted-average of the nodal prices at all off-take nodes in each half hour.
The VCRPMSSL is the price used to allocate any Vesting Contract Settlement Credit or Debits from MSSL to the end consumers. The VCRPMSSL is the average of the Vesting Contract Reference Prices (VCRPs) for all vested generators' settlement accounts, weighted by their respective vesting contract quantities. Further details on the vesting contract regime can be found at the EMA website.
The WEP is the net purchase price paid by retailers, inclusive of all administrative costs incurred in the wholesale market. This price consists of the following cost components: USEP, AFP, HEUC, MEUC, EMC fees and Power System Operator (PSO) fees.