The launch of Singapore’s Green Plan 2030 (Green Plan) in February this year is likely to mark a turning point for the island state’s energy sector. As Singapore looks to create a more sustainable society, it will become increasingly focused on low-carbon energy, including hydrogen.
In the latest instalment of our “Energy in ASEAN” series, we consider some of the key aspects of the Green Plan, from an energy perspective, and take a look at some of the initiatives in the hydrogen sector which are currently being undertaken in Singapore, says an article published on mondaq website.
Singapore’s “Green Plan”
The Green Plan has five key pillars, which can be summarized as follows:
City in Nature: focusing on green spaces and nature, approximately 200 hectares of land (an increase of 50 percent) will be reserved for nature parks by 2030, with one million trees intended to be planted.
Energy Reset: Singapore will transition to using cleaner energy sources (discussed in further detail below) in order to increase energy efficiency and tackle climate change, as well as supporting the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).
Indeed, Singapore has declared its 2040 vision for the automobile sector: to phase out internal combustion vehicle engines, and by 2030 all newly registered cars must be cleaner-energy models, such as EVs, hybrid or hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles.
Sustainable Living: focusing on ensuring that reduction of carbon emissions, maintaining a clean environment and saving resources become a way of life in Singapore. In order to achieve this, Singapore will make a push towards circularity in waste materials to “transform trash to treasure,” as well as increasing recycling capabilities and reducing waste sent to landfills by 30 percent.
Green Economy: seeking new investments that are among the best-in-class in terms of carbon or energy efficiency. The Singapore government will introduce a new “Enterprise Sustainability Programme” to help enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), embrace sustainability and develop capabilities in this area.
Singapore aims to become a leading carbon trading and services hub, including green finance (in which Singapore aims to become a leading global centre), sustainability consultancy, verification, carbon credits trading and risk management.
Resilient Future: to build up Singapore’s climate resilience and enhance food security. Initiatives include the development of physical coastal defences to protect against rising sea levels and increasing local food production to meet 30 percent of Singapore’s nutritional needs by 2030.2
The “Green Economy” Pillar proposes to “promote home-grown innovation under the Research, Innovation & Enterprise Plan 2025, and attract companies to anchor their R&D activities in Singapore to develop new sustainability solutions for Asia and the world”.
Hydrogen and Ammonia in Singapore
Firstly, it is important to note that, while more than 30 countries have released hydrogen road maps (according to a report by the Hydrogen Council and McKinsey & Co.9), Singapore has not yet taken the step of producing one of its own.
However, Dr. Tan See Leng, Singapore’s Second Minister for Trade and Industry and Manpower Minister, also indicated that there are three major challenges relating to hydrogen that must be overcome, namely:
- Global supply chains for hydrogen need to be established.
- Extensive infrastructure for hydrogen import, storage, transport and end-use need to be put in place.
- The current price of producing and importing hydrogen is high, making wider adoption difficult10.
These challenges are seen as the most significant barriers to the global development of hydrogen and it remains to be seen whether they can be overcome, at least in the short-term.
However, the lack of a roadmap notwithstanding, Singapore is moving forward with investments in the hydrogen space. Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek recently announced that it had entered into an agreement to form a US$140 million joint venture with Nanofilm Technologies (a Singapore stock exchange (SGX)-listed nanotechnologies manufacturer)12.
The joint venture, known as Sydrogen Energy, is being established with the aim of leveraging Nanofilm’s core technologies to “develop new components and solutions to overcome existing limitations in enabling the use of hydrogen as an energy source.”
Singapore, housing the second busiest container port in the world and top bunkering port in 2020, is a hub for global maritime trade. It is, therefore, perhaps no coincidence that a number of Singapore’s hydrogen initiatives are focused on the maritime sector.
For example, the EMA and Keppel Offshore and Marine were jointly awarded a research grant to pilot Singapore’s first floating Energy Storage System (ESS).
This project was awarded to a consortium led by Envision Digital International Pte Ltd14. Solutions developed under this initiative are to be test-bedded on Keppel’s “Floating Living Lab”, the first-of-its-kind offshore floating test-bed.
Singapore has also, through its Maritime and Port Authority (MPA), entered into an agreement to establish a S$120 million fund for a maritime decarbonization center to be set up in Singapore, supported by funding from industry partners.
The MPA has entered into a memorandum of cooperation with Sembcorp Marine, BW Group, Eastern Pacific Shipping, Ocean Network Express, Foundation Det Norske Veritas and BHP. Each individual private sector partner will contribute S$10 million to the fund, while the MPA will add a further S$60 million in research and development funding.
The funds are intended to support the establishment of the decarbonization center and provide funding for maritime-decarbonization-related research and technology development projects.
The Ammonia Angle
In another recent development in Singapore’s maritime sector, Keppel Offshore and Marine, Sumitomo and Maersk, along with Norwegian fertiliser manufacturer Yara International and Hong Kong’s Fleet Management, announced that they had entered into a memorandum of understanding to jointly conduct a feasibility study with the aim of being pioneers in establishing a comprehensive and competitive supply chain for the provision of green ammonia ship-to-ship bunkering at the Port of Singapore16.
Ammonia is likely to be a key component in the future hydrogen economy, particularly in the context of transportation of hydrogen, which is, as previously highlighted, one of the key hurdles facing the sector.
In addition to performing the role of a “hydrogen carrier” ammonia can also be used as a fuel directly in power plants and as a marine transport fuel. Several firms are developing “green” ammonia, a route to ammonia in which hydrogen derived from water electrolysis powered by alternative energy replaces hydrocarbon-based hydrogen, making ammonia production virtually carbon dioxide-free.
However, establishing an ammonia fuel industry won’t be easy. By most estimates, green ammonia will cost two to four times as much to make as conventional ammonia. Moreover, some of the technologies needed to harness the molecule, such as ammonia-burning engines, are still experimental.
One of the technical challenges that needs to be overcome in this area is that the space required for fuel storage is typically larger and some material selection modifications will be required in vessel construction.
In addition, port operators and fuel suppliers will need to construct vast bunkering infrastructure so ships can fill ammonia tanks wherever they dock. Similarly, significant investment will need to be made in solar, wind and other renewable-energy capacity (assuming the focus is on green ammonia) to produce enough green ammonia (itself and extremely energy intensive process) to satisfy the demands of the maritime industry.
Globally, ships consume an estimated 300 million tons of marine fuels every year. Given that ammonia’s energy density is half that of diesel, ammonia producers would need to provide twice as much liquid ammonia, and ships will need, as highlighted previously, to accommodate larger storage tanks, potentially eating into cargo space.
Summary
- Announcement of the launch of Singapore’s Green Plan is likely to serve as a milestone in the country’s energy sector.
- With few power resources of its own, Singapore will continue to need to look abroad for supply in order to maintain its energy security.
- It appears that hydrogen certainly has a role to play in Singapore’s energy mix going forward and there are a stream of initiatives currently being undertaken in this space.
- Singapore has not yet announced a hydrogen strategy and we will be watching with interest to see whether the government determines to put one in place.
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Source: mondaq
