PSA International flirts with hydrogen

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Together with five Singaporean and two Japanese partners, the company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at exploring the potential of hydrogen as an alternative, low-carbon fuel for Singapore.

The involved parties focus on research and development of new technologies related to the transportation and storage of hydrogen. Signees include Jurong Port Pte Ltd, City Gas Pte Ltd, Sembcorp Industries Ltd, Singapore LNG Corporation Pte Ltd, Chiyoda Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation.

Chiyoda's SPERA Hydrogen, Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC) technology will play a key role in identifying and demonstrating of possible use cases. It allows safe transportation of hydrogen in chemical tankers at normal atmospheric temperature and pressure.

Ong Kim Pong, Regional CEO Southeast Asia, PSA International, said, "[…]Lowering carbon emissions to reduce the impact of climate change is a vital pillar of our business, and the direct impact of reducing our carbon footprint through this project is exciting. Powering our horizontal transport with hydrogen is just the beginning, and we will see its application expanding in the future, playing a part in our Smart Grid systems with EMA, and augmenting business adjacencies in our future Tuas Ecosystem."

According to the press release, it was the "very real challenge of climate change", that prompted Singapore's Government to engage stakeholders and interest them in creating solutions for the country's Energy Story. The National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore will also work with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) to tackle the maritime decarbonisation challenge through research and technology development.

Professor Low Teck Seng, CEO, NRF, said, "[…] We  are encouraged  that  companies  are  coming  together,  leveraging  each  other's expertise, to study how hydrogen can be used as an emissions-free alternative to   existing   carbon   sources.      These   companies   will   work   alongside   our researchers  to  look  at  how  technologies  in  this  area – such  as  catalysis  and membrane  technologies – can  be  further  developed  for  the  production  and distribution of hydrogen." 

Seng also mentioned, that these efforts will be met with support from the side of public sector agencies, in order to speed up the potential switch to hydrogen as a low-carbon solution, thus lowering Singapore's carbon footprint.