KUCHING: Sarawak has two key competitive advantages as a potential hydrogen producer – its industrial electricity tariffs are highly competitive at both national and regional levels and renewable hydropower dominates its generation mix.
This means that it can use renewable hydropower to produce green carbon-neutral hydrogen.
Speaking as a panellist during the ‘Hydrogen Economy Forum’ session held on Oct 21 as part of the International Greentech & Eco Products Exhibition & Conference Malaysia 2020 (IGEM 2020), Sarawak Energy’s group chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Sharbini Suhaili said that Sarawak was well positioned to become a significant hydrogen player in the global hydrogen value chain.
“Sarawak is blessed with abundant renewable hydropower potential that can be harnessed to produce low carbon hydrogen.
“The hydrogen economy is a new concept even at the global level, and the raising of public awareness is important to address concerns and potential misperceptions.
Moderated by Ravi Krishnaswamy, senior vice-president – Energy, Sustainability, Industrial of Frost & Sullivan, other panellists of the ‘Hydrogen Economy Forum’ session included Logan Energy CEO Bill Ireland and head of Global Relations and Networking for International PtX Hub Berlin, Heino von Meyer.
According to Sharbini, the implementation of the hydrogen agenda had its own set of challenges, including the current high cost of the hydrogen value chain, readiness of technologies to support, and economies of scale for mass production.
However, he believed that the challenges could be overcome to enable Sarawak to capitalise on the opportunities by being ahead of the curve.
He pointed out that hydrogen was already recognised globally as a key enabler in energy decarbonisation and ultimately, climate change mitigation.
“If all players work together, we can benefit collectively from technology improvements and economies of scale, driving down costs of the hydrogen value chain and increasing uptake in the coming years.
“We thank the Sarawak government for their trust in allowing Sarawak Energy to play a pivotal role through research in the development or application of technologies that will alter the energy utilisation landscape and progress a green hydrogen economy for Sarawak and beyond.”
In 2017, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg announced that Sarawak Energy would be entrusted to lead a state-funded research project on hydrogen’s commercial and public application.
This was based on the premise that hydrogen could become the primary fuel of choice for areas such as the transportation sector and energy storage as the technology matures and becomes more commercially attractive in the future.
Sarawak Energy now produces green hydrogen through electrolysis at its integrated hydrogen production plant and refuelling station in Kuching, built and commissioned last year in partnership with Linde, the world’s largest industrial gas company.
The integrated production plant is Southeast Asia’s first such facility and it is capable of fuelling up to five fuel cell buses and 10 fuel cell cars per day.
The facility is contributing significantly to the body of knowledge in and evaluation of the hydrogen economy in a tropical environment.
