Singapore - Youths urged to consider career in energy sector with new degree

SINGAPORE: The Energy Market Authority is introducing a dedicated power engineering course next year to train professional power engineers in Singapore.

The two-year full-time course is a collaboration between the Singapore Institute of Technology and Newcastle University, and targets diploma holders.

It aims to train up a pool of specialised power engineers, who work in the generation, transmission and distribution of energy in Singapore.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Trade and Industry Minister S Iswaran made the announcement at an energy dialogue with some 170 tertiary students on Wednesday.

He said: "We know that in the next five to ten years there will be opportunities for new entrants to the market -- first because of growth in the sector, second because of people who are retiring.

"Engineering in particular is the mainstay of this sector, both in terms of its maintenance and operations, but also in terms of future innovation possibilities. You need that engineering and science foundation."

The new course is scheduled to start in September next year.

During the dialogue, the students were asked in a snap poll if they were keen on a career in the energy sector.

Forty-three per cent of the students said "Yes", followed by 40 per cent who said, "It depends" while 17 per cent said "No".

But the students expressed keen interest in renewable energy, such as solar and wind power.

Half of the students said clean energy is the most compelling energy sector for a career.

This is far ahead of oil and gas, which was picked by less than 10 per cent of students.

- CNA/ck/fa

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