with Jiang Yong, the Director and General Manager of Foshan Feichi Automobile Manufacturing Co Ltd of China (second right) during the
agreement signing ceremony. Also present are SEDC General Manager, Datu Haji Soedirman Haji Aini (extreme left) and Weng Taixian, the director
and deputy general manager of Foshan Auto Transportation Group Co Ltd of China.
KUCHING: Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) has recently entered a sales and purchase agreement with Foshan Feichi Automobile Manufacturing Co Ltd of China for the purchase of hydrogen fuel cell city buses. This was announced by SEDC General Manager, Datu Haji Soedirman Haji Aini who said the agreement signing ceremony was held at Yunfu City in Guangdong, China recently.
“It is another memorable milestone for SEDC Sarawak and we are pleased to announce the official signing of the sales and purchase for the delivery of the hydrogen cell buses which will be delivered to us in Kuching city,” he said. The use of the hydrogen-cell buses is also in line with the implementation of the proposed green and environmentally friendly public transportation in Sarawak as envisioned by Chief Minister of Sarawak, Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Abang Haji Openg. Sarawak is aiming to become the first in this region to use non-carbon emission buses and possibly the first state in Malaysia in line with the global trend towards environmental protection and compliance.
“Our country and Sarawak in particular has abundant hydropower resources which can be used to sustain the usage of hydrogen fuel cell buses that are both economic and environmental friendly,” Datu Haji Soedirman added.
“On top of that, this will also offer cheaper costs of operation for such services to cover major areas including better mileage when using hydrogen cells instead of traditional fossil fuel,” he added. The cost of such public transportation is expected to be cheaper, considering the fact that hydrogen is extracted from water and is unlike other type of buses where costing is tied up to the global price of fossil fuel. Datu Haji Soedirman had disclosed the agreement among other will pave way for the cooperation between SEDC Sarawak and Foshan Feichi Automobile Manufacturing Co Ltd of China in the proposed development of the inter-city hydrogen cell bus services covering all major transportation routes in the state.
Meanwhile, the first batch of the hydrogen fuel-cell buses are expected to make their debut service on the roads in Kuching city by March 2019. This was already announced by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Abang Haji Openg on September 9 this year after witnessing the signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) between SEDC Sarawak and Foshan Feishi Automobile Manufacture Co Ltd China for the supply and delivery of the hydrogen fuel cell buses. According to him, the State government will try the three units of the buses first, as part of its pilot project and research that is aimed to improve and provide better public transportation system to the locals.
The Chief Minister also disclosed state government is considering free rides for both locals and tourists to use these hydrogen-powered buses when they arrive for the trial run. Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari had also announced that there will be a hydrogen production plant and fuelling station to be built by Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) and is expected to be ready when the hydrogen fuel cell buses are delivered here next year. Among the countries which had successfully implemented the use of hydrogen-cell fuel buses are Germany and China.
