Singapore has launched its national hydrogen strategy, as the low-carbon fuel could supply half of the Republic’s power needs by 2050.
Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong outlined Singapore’s national strategy to develop hydrogen at the Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) 2022 on Oct 25.
For Singapore, hydrogen can complement and diversify our power mix alongside solar, imported electricity, and other potential low-carbon energy sources, such as geothermal energy, says the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI).
“Hydrogen has the potential to be adopted across different sectors as a low-carbon fuel or feedstock. Hydrogen does not release any greenhouse gases when combusted. When produced through low-emission methods such as through the electrolysis of water using renewable energy, it can have close to zero emissions,” says MTI in an Oct 25 press release.
Wong names five “key thrusts” for Singapore’s hydrogen plans.
First, Singapore will experiment with the use of advanced hydrogen technologies that are on the cusp of commercial readiness. “In this regard, we will launch an Expression of Interest for a small-scale commercial project on utilising ammonia for power generation, including developing ammonia supply chains to also support marine bunkering needs. Such a project will allow us to assess the viability of ammonia — as both a hydrogen carrier and as a direct fuel — and develop regulations and [an] ecosystem to support it,” says Wong.
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The Energy Market Authority (EMA) will release further details in the coming months.
Second, Singapore will conduct research and development work to advance these hydrogen technologies. Hydrogen will be a key focal area for Phase 2 of the Low Carbon Energy Research (LCER) Programme.
In October 2021, the government awarded $55 million for projects under Phase 1 of the programme for research into low-carbon technologies. A further $129 million will be set aside for Phase 2, says Wong. “Through collaborations between academia and industry, we aim to unlock key technological bottlenecks so that Singapore is able to import, handle and utilise low-carbon hydrogen and its derivatives safely and at scale.”
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Third, the government will work closely with industry and international partners to enable the formation and scaling up of supply chains for low-carbon hydrogen, says Wong. “This will include advancing the development of Guarantee of Origin certification methodologies, ensuring that methodologies are interoperable across jurisdictions, and building a trading and financing ecosystem to facilitate global trade of low-carbon hydrogen.”
Fourth, the mass deployment of hydrogen will require new infrastructure to import, store and transform the hydrogen into power, says Wong. “We will develop the land and infrastructure plans and pace its implementation accordingly.”
Finally, adopting hydrogen will bring about new economic opportunities for Singapore and our enterprises and workers, says Wong. “Opportunities abound along the hydrogen supply chain — financing, trading, certifying, transporting, storage and deployment. We will work with industry and the education sector to support workforce training. This will put Singaporeans in good stead to capture new opportunities in the global hydrogen economy.”
