Singapore faces cost and investment hurdles in hydrogen push

Tech advances will allow SG to produce 50% of its energy from low-carbon hydrogen by 2050.

- Vann Villegas

ENERGY & OFFSHORE 

Natural gas-reliant Singapore is putting a premium on low-carbon hydrogen for its energy transition as it faces land scarcity to accommodate other forms of renewable energy. However, the hydrogen sector is still nascent, posing significant challenges in achieving the country's target due to cost and investment woes.

Under the country’s National Hydrogen Strategy, Singapore sees various use cases for hydrogen across industrial, maritime, and aviation sectors. For the power sector, which comprises 39.8% of the primary emissions in 2020, hydrogen is expected to supply half of Singapore’s power needs by 2050.

“Singapore’s National Hydrogen Strategy is a laudable start, but it is too early to conclude whether meeting its target is feasible or not. The target is a sort of conditional target depending on the technological development and international effort levels,” Kim Jeong Won, senior research fellow at the Energy Studies Institute of the National University of Singapore, told Singapore Business Review.