Woodside studies hydrogen links with Singapore and Japan

4th January 2022 By: Esmarie Iannucci - Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor: Australasia

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Oil and gas major Woodside in December announced a collaboration with a number of partners to study the feasibility of a long-term, stable supply chain of sustainable liquid hydrogen (LH2) from Western Australia to Singapore and potentially Japan.

The company inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Keppel Data Centres Holding, City Energy, Osaka Gas Singapore and City-OG Gas Energy Services to work collaboratively to explore both the technical and commercial aspects of developing an LH2 supply chain between Western Australia and Singapore, and potentially Japan, through collaboration using their respective expertise and knowledge.

This new agreement follows the announcement of the proposed H2Perth Hydrogen facility in Kwinana where Woodside will seek to establish a large-scale LH2 and Ammonia export hub. The study is expected to continue until mid-2022, at which juncture the parties will decide on the next phase of their collaboration.

Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said the MoU was aligned with Woodside’s strategy to develop a diversified and scalable portfolio of new energy products to help reduce customers’ emissions.

“It is important for us to work collaboratively with potential customers and end-users, such as Keppel Data Centres, Osaka Gas Singapore, City Energy and City-OG Gas Energy Services, to collaboratively build out a sustainable hydrogen supply chain from our proposed H2Perth project.

“H2Perth is ideally located in Western Australia for shipping to Singapore and Japan and the project site is close to existing gas, power, water and port infrastructure, as well as a skilled local residential workforce,” she said.

Keppel Data Centres CEO Wong Wai Meng said this MoU will explore the feasibility of harnessing LH2 from Australia to power its data centres in Singapore, with potential applications for other Keppel business units in future.

“This collaboration in the upstream LH2 supply chain complements the existing MoUs we have entered with various partners to explore the mid-to-downstream segments, including transportation, storage and regasification,” he added.

“In line with Keppel’s Vision 2030 and carbon emission reduction targets, we are committed to the decarbonisation of data centre operations through our research efforts in liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen for power generation, floating data centres, and technologies for carbon capture, utilisation and sequestration.”

For piped town gas provider, City Energy, which is the national producer and retailer of town gas in Singapore, this collaboration could significantly support its carbon reduction effort in piped town gas production or combustion.

City Energy CEO and City-OG Gas Energy Services chairperson Perry Ong said that as the nation’s sole piped town gas provider for more than 870 000 homes and businesses, decarbonising town gas is central to City Energy’s business strategy.

“We look forward to collaborating with our partners in this MoU to explore a greener future for our nation, in particular in studying the feasibility of importing green hydrogen for applications in town gas manufacturing processes to further lower carbon emissions.”

“Our team at City-OG is pleased to support the increasing needs of its natural gas customers to reduce carbon emissions and is strongly committed to contributing to a low-carbon planet, which is good for all. With its close relationships with City Energy and Daigas Group, of which Osaka Gas is an affiliate, City-OG is well positioned to share its expertise in helping its customers lower their carbon emissions.”

Osaka Gas Singapore president and CEO Motoyuki Hirabayashi also noted that the company had announced a vision to be carbon neutral by 2050.

“Hydrogen will play a significant role in the energy transition and the development of a liquefied hydrogen supply chain is vital.

“We would like to contribute to the success of the project by utilising our experience and know-how accumulated through our LNG value chain business, including aggregation of LNG demand. We are excited to participate in this valuable project led by Keppel with Woodside Energy, and we look forward to our collaboration to contribute and to build a sustainable hydrogen supply chain between Singapore and Australia.”