City Energy and Sydrogen Energy have, on Oct 27, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to study the proof of concept (PoC) of generating an end-to-end hydrogen fuel cell solution for an off-grid power supply. The hydrogen will be extracted from the town gas produced by City Energy.
The PoC is to establish the viability of distributed power generation using fuel cells and the town gas network. In the study, both parties seek to demonstrate that hydrogen fuel cells can be used as an off-grid decentralised means to augment infrastructure upgrades that support large-scale charging for electric vehicles (EVs) in future.
According to the joint statement released by both parties, this is the first time that a hydrogen fuel cell study will be conducted using town gas as a fuel source in Singapore.
Sydrogen Energy is a joint venture between SGX-listed Nanofilm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings while City Energy, formerly City Gas, is Singapore’s sole provider of piped town gas.
The study is expected to commence in early 2023 and will continue till mid-2024. At that point, both parties will further explore the possibility of using town gas-powered hydrogen fuel cells for broader off-grid applications.
Hydrogen has emerged as a key component of Singapore’s decarbonisation strategy with the announcement of the “4 Switches” in 2019 as well as the Energy 2050 Committee by the Energy Market Authority (EMA).
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The successful completion of the PoC will enable the repurposing of the extensive town gas network for the distribution of hydrogen to fuel a network of hydrogen fuel cells around the island and form a network to serve residential and commercial users with on-site basic utilities and EV charging.
“As the nation’s sole piped town gas provider for more than 880,000 homes and businesses, we look forward to the possibility of using the town gas network to support the hydrogen economy development, and accelerate deployment of green hydrogen in Singapore. It is our pleasure to collaborate with Sydrogen on this innovative PoC to accelerate Singapore’s hydrogen adoption, electrification goals and path to net zero emissions,” says Perry Ong, CEO of City Energy.
“Decentralised power generation plays an important role in diversifying our energy use. The proof of concept combines Sydrogen’s Deep Tech capabilities with a key ecosystem player to develop home-grown solutions for to future-proof Singapore’s energy supply future. We are glad to work with forward-looking partners such as City Energy in this endeavour,” says David DeVries, CTO of Sydrogen.
As at 3.06pm, shares in Nanofilm are trading 1 cent higher or 0.57% up at $1.76.
