Singapore hosts one of the biggest refineries in Asia and has all the potential to become a hydrogen hub too for the region in near future, says Miguel Laburu, VP-R&D, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association of Singapore (HFCAS).

“Not only is the government looking at making it a hub but I believe more projects are going on in Singapore and it will soon take a lead in the region. Companies in Singapore have tied up with Japanese firms to explore the potential for hydrogen and it will accelerate the process to embrace the fuel as the region prepares itself for energy transition. Keppel Data Centres and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are jointly exploring the implementation of the hydrogen powered tri-generation plant concept for data centres in Singapore. With hydrogen offering an alternative to cut carbon emissions, the favorable government policy will encourage production and set the right cost,” Laburu explains.

Laburu was speaking alongside other prominent experts at the webinar, ‘Championing Green Hydrogen - Role of Hydrogen in Global Decarbonisation’ organized by Future Energy Asia. The event was moderated by Marius Kluge Foss, Senior Vice President, Head of Global Energy Systems, Rystad. 

As per Dan Feldman, Partner, Shearman & Sterling LLP, “Asia is the key leader in the movement towards decarbonisation. Asian companies are into upstreaming traditional energy and we are seeing credit being extended to such companies. While Australia is now exporting brown hydrogen from coal to Japan, it is certainly going forward on green and blue hydrogen as well. In middle-east too, the projects focused on hydrogen and ammonia are currently being contemplated. From transportation to chemical production, demand will fuel the confidence in the markets such as Australia and the Middle-East in the longer run. Asia is one of the best locations especially when one of the world’s biggest green hydrogen projects by Air Products has commenced construction in Neom city of Saudi Arabia.”

“In a very interesting project, our company is providing engine generating sets that will run on a hydrogen and natural gas blend, for the first of its kind Keppel O&M’s offshore floating testbed in Singapore. The power generation system will operate on two Wartsila 34SG engines running on natural gas/LNG. These two units are capable of operating on gas with up to 3% hydrogen, and with modifications can utilize up to 25% hydrogen. Such projects with the support of the local government have taken off well,” says Nicolas Leong, Energy Business Director, North & South-East Asia, Wartsila.

Sharing his perspective from a financing point of view, Andrew Nelson, Director, Standard Chartered Bank says, “There are many projects in Asia including Singapore and Australia but in Europe we have seen how they have produced it directly for the steel industry and created a demand and end to end use. It is a very good start from a bank perspective as the bank financing is very important for the proof of concept and wider market expansion. In the Middle East, there is traditional government support and thus an economically viable market for few of the largest projects that are being developed. Governments across other countries too must help in pushing the projects towards full scale expansion.”

Ammonia remains a popular choice as vector for H2

Experts believe that using ammonia as a carrier for transporting hydrogen at the moment is one of the best options as it is cost effective and adaptable. It provides all sorts of use including in fertilizer production and green steel.

“From shipment perspective, it is a regional story for hydrogen. Ammonia is a major vector for its transport in the Middle East as in many other regions. In Australia, liquefied petroleum is used, which is a very interesting and potential future vector but it takes a lot of energy for refrigeration and is expensive,” says Feldman.

“There is no best solution available. In terms of logistics, every port has its different ways. While other options mature, we have the benefit of ammonia as there is market and infrastructure for it and it is the first way to go. In the long term, we would know if it is going to be the best solution or we will have more,” opines Laburu.

Leong is of the opinion that rather than looking at 100% renewable, it is the time to go for blends. “Instead of 100% hydrogen or 100% ammonia, we need to start small. We need to blend and mix it with natural gas and LNG until we get the pure form at the right cost. As the market gets ready and we have a commercially viable source of hydrogen and ammonia, we can go ahead and talk about 100% renewable sources. Another important thing is that we need to have the right technology and equipment that is future proof.”

Transition will take time

“It is good to start small and grow bigger. At 20 MW electrolysis, we can understand a lot about ammonia production as there is no need for big bets. The players can start as small clusters at local levels with seed funds by the government. There is a large pent up demand and government plans are aggressive in South-East Asia. Once the first project gets financed and once the proof of concept of projects is done, we will have a lot of opportunities,” says Feldman.

“On the demand side, heavy industries such as steel, coal have carbon intensive operations. For example, in Europe, there are incentives to use green hydrogen. Power generation is an issue as with conventional sources, it will be difficult to find the economic advantages. At the moment, pilot projects are getting developed. I have seen players waiting for carbon policy to make sense before they jump in. They are developing small projects but waiting for the market and policies to evolve,” adds Nelson.

Leong says transition won’t happen overnight but over a period of time.

“Hydrogen will be one of the future fuels but there are various colors of it we are talking about. It is blue, green, gray, brown, and just like a rainbow. Decarbonisation is not just hydrogen but a lot other options too that would help in energy transition. At the same time, we need to be future focused depending on what would be our best bet. Technical issues and costs are factors that will determine the change. It is not a sprint but a marathon and we need corporate funding as government subsidy would not be enough. With right collaborations among the stakeholders such as producers, technology providers, the ecosystem will be built gradually,” concludes Leong.