The ‘Facility for Anti-Proton and Ion Research’ (FAIR) presently under construction will deliver intense ion beams to its experimental users. The requested intensities require filling the existing synchrotron SIS18, which serves as in- jector to FAIR, up to the space charge (SC) limit. Operation under these conditions is challenging due to the large tune footprint of the beam, demanding delicate control of adverse effects caused by machine imperfections to avoid emittance growth and beam loss. To facilitate the high intensity opera- tion, the installation of an electron lens for SC compensation into SIS18 is foreseen. This requires an electron beam of a current of several amperes with longitudinal and transverse distributions matched to those of the ion beam during the cycle. The electron beam needs to be RF modulated at a bandwidth of a few MHz with time varying amplitude rang- ing from DC to fully modulated, while the transverse size needs to be continuously adapted to the adiabatically shrink- ing ion beam. This contribution reports on the requirements on an electron lens for SC compensation in SIS18.