BY SARAH HAFIZAH CHANDRA & TANIA LAM
KUCHING: The hydrogen economy is an informed decision which was made after years of discussions, thoughts and observations, said Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) chairman Tan Sri Datuk Abdul Aziz Husain.
He said that hydrogen was currently enjoying unprecedented political and business momentum with the number of supportive policies and new projects around the world expanding rapidly.
“The hydrogen economy is not just a promotional gimmick. There are already many countries that are developing their hydrogen production capacities and taking bold steps to become frontliners of developing what could be a major source of energy in the future.
“The World Hydrogen Council stated that the annual demand for hydrogen could increase tenfold by the year 2050. Hence, the development of the proposed hydrogen production in Bintulu will provide a significant boost to Sarawak’s economy for the establishment of a robust hydrogen industry.”
He said this during the virtual signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between SEDC and its strategic partners from Japan – Sumitomo Corporation and Eneos on Friday.
Abdul Aziz said that the MoU was another significant milestone in the development of hydrogen economy in Sarawak.
“This is a special occasion because the MoU enables each party to define each other’s roles with regards to techno-commercial study for the development of a hydrogen production plant in the Petrochemical Park in Bintulu. We are excited to embark on this journey to export zero-carbon or green hydrogen to Japan and other countries.
“Our state is blessed with the abundance of low-cost electricity produced by our hydropower dams. We can now add value to this by utilising the power to produce zero-carbon hydrogen using electrolyser and export to other developed countries where it can contribute to their effort to reduce their carbon emissions,” he explained.
According to him, SEDC Energy Sdn Bhd which is a subsidiary of SEDC was looking into large-scale hydrogen production for domestic and export market.
“SEDC Energy is studying the feasibility of large-scale hydrogen production to meet both domestic and export market. Together with our prospective partners and investors, we are planning a 1,000 tonnes per year facility in Bintulu which would be ready in 2023 to meet the needs of potential buyers.
“This plant is scalable and can be expanded by thousands of tons per year soon. Recent developments in the industry have shown how Sarawak could benefit from the international green hydrogen trade as we are not the first to venture into this area,’ he added.
He also said that the signing of MoU reflected SEDC’s corporate strategy of having good partners to move forward and propel its achievements.
“This milestone reflects our corporate strategy of having strategic partners who can become an important asset to our business endeavour. Through such partnerships, we can move forward and it can keep us on the right track while propelling our achievements to another level,” he said.
