27 June 2024
Under the Radar: Geneco spills the beans on the secret recipe to remain competitive in Singapore’s Open Electricity Market, whether wholesale prices are stabilising, and what the green wave means for energy retailers
Retailing is the action of selling goods and services to consumers piecemeal rather than to businesses in bulk.
When we think of retailers, we often think of the likes of clothing retailers and electronic retailers. But instead of selling consumer goods, our guest for today sells the electricity we use to power our homes and electronics.
Established back in 2001 under its former name Seraya Energy, our guest for today is Geneco, a subsidiary of YTL PowerSeraya, one of Singapore’s first and largest electricity generators, with a licensed generating capacity of 3,100MW.
The firm used to serve just commercial and industrial customers back in the days until further liberalisation of the Singapore electricity market kicked in in 2018.
It was then that the company re-established itself as Geneco and expanded its scope to also cater to households and small and medium sized enterprises. Since then, the firm’s retail business grew further over the years, powering over 165,000 households in the lion city as of 2024.
But why are we talking to Geneco you might ask? Well, the Singapore electricity retail market is an interesting one to look at. It used to be rather vibrant back in 2018, with customers able to choose their electricity provider from a list of over 20 retailers.
Just a number of years later, a number of players including Singapore’s largest independent electricity retailer iSwitch left the industry due to cut throat competition, volatility in wholesale electricity prices, not to mention the energy crisis fuelled by the Russia-Ukraine war.
So what was the secret sauce that allowed Geneco to continue growing, on top of remaining in business?
Speaking of energy crisis, Geneco had said in April 2023 that electricity bill that year could be cheaper as global energy prices stabilise, but how far has that played out, and what is the situation like right now with demand for electricity expected to grow as the economy revs back to life from the pandemic? And what will that mean for Geneco ultimately when it filters through to its top and bottom lines?
On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Lim Han Kwang, CEO, Geneco, Group Head (Retail, Regulation and Renewables) YTL PowerSeraya Ltd.

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Listen To His Previous Podcasts:

14 September 2021
Soul of Business: Supplying Electricity Amidst a Climate Crisis
On the Soul of Business, it has recently been announced that Singapore is considering setting green standards for power generation companies here, as part of the county's efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. Claressa Monteiro speaks with Lim Han Kwang, CEO of Geneco and Group Head (Retail, Regulation and Renewables) of YTL PowerSeraya (YTLPS) to find out what the proposed changes on greenhouse emissions standards or policies mean to power generation firms here.

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22 April 2021
In The Spotlight: Electricity retailer Geneco's plans for the year ahead
How will leading electricity retailer Geneco navigate the current energy transition environment? Rachel Kelly speaks to Lim Han Kwang, Chief Executive Officer of Geneco and Group Head (Retail, Regulation and Renewables) of YTL PowerSeraya to find out.

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