Hydrogen law, regulations & strategy in Singapore

Singapore’s moves to decarbonise have gathered momentum in recent years, with the aim to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and hydrogen potentially leading the way down its “decarbonisation pathway”. 1 Singapore relies on natural gas to meet its energy needs, with around 95% of its current electricity supply generated from imported natural gas. 2

The plan is to reduce this reliance by more than 50% with renewable energy imports (targeted to be 30%) and other energy sources, such as domestic solar projects (e.g. floating solar farms), hydrogen, biofuels, nuclear power and geothermal power (collectively targeted to be 20%). 3 To meet this ambitious goal, without compromising the country’s energy security, the government has allocated significant resources to ‘greening’ its energy usage, including a focus on alternative fuel sources. In this respect, much progress has been made on the development of the hydrogen sector.

Singapore launched its National Hydrogen Strategy in October 2022 to advance its domestic hydrogen and infrastructure development, as well as building a regional hydrogen supply hub. The government’s efforts are organised around the following: 4

1. experiment with the use of near-commercially ready hydrogen technologies, for instance, supporting the development of small-scale commercial projects using ammonia as a hydrogen carrier; 5
2. invest in research and development to advance hydrogen technologies, such as those relating to liquefied hydrogen; 6
3. pursue collaborations with industry and international partners to scale up the low-carbon hydrogen supply chain;
4. develop and implement plans for the importation, transportation, storage, and hydrogen conversion into energy; and
5. workforce training.

In furtherance of the National Hydrogen Strategy, the government’s investments into making hydrogen technologies more viable across the life cycle of harnessing hydrogen for energy can be seen through initiatives, such as the Low Carbon Energy Research Funding Initiative, 7  and the Create Thematic Programme in Decarbonisation. 8 8

The private sector is also playing a pivotal role in Singapore’s energy transition with corporations, for example, building hydrogen-compatible natural gas power plants which are expected to be ready by 2030. 9  The Port of Singapore has also seen the world’s first use of ammonia (as a hydrogen carrier) as marine fuel in a dual-fuelled ammonia-powered vessel where liquid ammonia from Singapore’s ammonia facility on Jurong Island was loaded onto the vessel for the test trial 10  - a significant milestone in Singapore’s multi-fuel bunkering capability development for international shipping and a positive step towards decarbonisation.

In conjunction with the development of low-carbon hydrogen projects and infrastructure, Singapore is building a framework for the adoption of low-carbon hydrogen as a viable alternative source of fuel through legislation and policies. On 6 August 2024, the Energy Market Authority of Singapore (“EMA”) called for tenders to conduct a consultancy study in the development of policies, legislation and regulations potentially covering hydrogen imports, ownership and operation of hydrogen infrastructure, as well as incentive and financing schemes (such schemes are important particularly to reduce the cost gap between ‘green’ hydrogen and natural gas). 11  Findings from the ongoing research and development projects will also be taken into consideration in the development of hydrogen-related policies or legislation. 12

This comes after the EMA announced in 2023 that it will be introducing emission standards for new and repowered fossil fuel-fired power plants to facilitate the deployment of clean energy in Singapore. These standards are determined based on “best-in-class technologies” available in the market and would be continuously reviewed and refined to facilitate Singapore’s transition towards net zero emissions. 13

As part of the National Hydrogen Strategy, the EMA and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore launched an expression of interest and later, a restricted request for proposal in 2022 and 2023 respectively, for a project to develop and implement end-to-end ammonia solutions (as a hydrogen carrier, 14  and also as a means of transporting hydrogen, or to be used directly as fuel). 15

Two consortiums led by Keppel’s Infrastructure Division and Sembcorp-SLNG, both Singapore corporations, have been selected to proceed to the next round of evaluations of proposals to study the viability of ammonia for power generation and bunkering. The international bunkering players supporting the consortium leads are Itochu Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation, and shipping company Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line). The two consortiums will proceed to conduct engineering, safety and emergency response studies for their proposal. By the first quarter of 2025, the authorities are expected to select one of the two consortiums to be the lead developer for the project, which includes (i) generating 55 to 65 megawatts of electricity from imported low or zero carbon ammonia via direct combustion in a combined cycle gas turbine and (ii) facilitating ammonia bunkering on Jurong Island at a capacity of at least 100,000 tonnes per annum, beginning from shore-to-ship bunkering and thereafter, by ship-to-ship bunkering. 16

If successful, the project will render Singapore one of the first countries to utilise a direct ammonia combustion power plant and establish the development of ammonia bunkering for international shipping; hence, contributing significantly to the potential usage of low-carbon ammonia as fuel. 17

The National Hydrogen Strategy has also brought together various other international partnerships which are crucial in enabling the exchange of knowledge and expertise in the hydrogen sector. For instance, French industrial gases company, Air Liquide and the owner and operator of Singapore’s only ammonia tank, Vopak, have entered into a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on the development and operation of infrastructure for ammonia import, cracking and hydrogen distribution infrastructure in Singapore. 18  The partnership aims to support Singapore’s National Hydrogen Strategy and potentially aids in developing ammonia as a viable alternative to maritime fuel. 19

Through a request for proposals in June 2024, the EMA announced plans to build two additional hydrogen-compatible natural gas power plants by 2030. Joining a suite of seven other plants which are under construction, the two new plants bring Singapore’s number of hydrogen-compatible plants to a minimum of nine by 2030. 20  Overall, the nine projects are expected to produce more than 3.7 gigawatts of power to meet Singapore’s ever-rising electricity demands. 21

Of the seven plants under construction, electricity supplier YTL PowerSeraya will build an $800 million 600-megawatt hydrogen-ready power plant by the end of 2027. YTL PowerSeraya had won the rights to build, own and operate the new plant following its response to EMA’s request for proposal in July 2023. 22  Additionally, scheduled for completion in the first half of 2026 is Keppel’s $750 million 600 megawatt advanced combined cycle gas turbine power plant, capable of co-firing with hydrogen comprising 30% of fuel intake and with the ability to run entirely on hydrogen in the future. The plant not only produces energy but will also be able to produce steam for use in industrial processes. The plant is currently under construction and is Singapore’s first hydrogen-ready power plant. 23  The five other plants in the works are by Singapore energy companies, Sembcorp, Meranti Power and PacificLight Power. They are expected to be ready in 2025.  24

These requests for proposals are a response to projected shortfalls in generation capacity (under EMA’s centralised process framework to guide and facilitate the development of new generation capacities). The EMA expects Singapore’s electricity demand to grow by at least 3.7% each year over the next six years, reaching between 10.1 gigawatts and 11.8 gigawatts by 2030, 25  in contrast to the previous decade’s growth of 1.5%. 26  This growth is driven by energy-intensive sectors such as advanced manufacturing, digital economy, food and transport, as well as the increasing use of electric vehicles. 27

These new plants come amidst stricter restrictions for new power plants in Singapore. From 2024, Singapore will introduce tighter requirements for power plants, requiring all new and upgraded natural gas power plants to be 10% more emission efficient and at least 30% hydrogen-compatible by volume. Emissions from power plants (e.g. combined-cycle gas turbines) that run regularly must adhere to Tier 1 standards, limiting emissions to 0.355 tonnes of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour of electricity produced. This is 10% more carbon-efficient than existing plants. Power plants that run only periodically (e.g. open-cycle gas turbines) are subject to Tier 2 standards and must adhere to an annual emission cap . This cap is set at the equivalent of a Tier 1 power plant running at 50% capacity over the course of a year. All plants must also be retrofitted to become fully hydrogen-ready in the future, once it becomes commercially viable. 28

In the aviation industry, the Singapore Hydrogen Cooperation Committee - a working group formed through a cooperation agreement between aircraft manufacturer Airbus, Changi Airport Group, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and chemical firm Linde - found in February 2024 that it is possible for aeroplanes departing from Singapore’s Changi Airport to be powered by hydrogen fuel instead of jet fuel in the future. 29 The findings are a result of a market analysis and technical feasibility study conducted in February 2022 on the projected demand and supply of liquid hydrogen in the aviation sector, as well as the regional readiness and commercial viability of the adoption of liquid hydrogen-operated aircraft. 30

According to the study, Singapore’s aviation sector could consume up to 50 tonnes of liquid hydrogen per day from 2040 onwards, and up to 600 tonnes daily beyond 2050. 31  This is potentially significant in decarbonising Singapore’s aviation industry given that the fuel consumption of the Singapore Airlines Group’s fleet of passenger and cargo planes exceeded 14,300 tonnes daily in the financial year 2019/2020. 32  The use of hydrogen could reduce  both aircraft emissions and emissions from airside ground activities, 33  contributing to the decarbonisation of the sector.

Although the technology for using liquid hydrogen as jet fuel is still under development and there are still regulatory and technical gaps, the findings from the technical feasibility study are valuable in identifying infrastructure scenarios that could support its progressive mass deployment at Singapore’s Changi Airport. This positions Singapore to incorporate liquid hydrogen more effectively once the technology becomes feasible and commercially viable. 34

The Singapore Hydrogen Cooperation Committee will continue to monitor the development of hydrogen technology for the aviation sector based on the following key areas:

1. hydrogen aircraft technology maturity;
2. development of associated concepts of operations for logistics, storage, onsite distribution and refuelling at an airport;
3. development of safety regulatory frameworks and standards surrounding the use of liquid hydrogen for aircraft operations;
4. the hydrogen supply chain and its compatibility with an airport;
5. the readiness of other airports for liquid hydrogen aircraft operations; and
6. the relative price of liquid hydrogen as an alternative aircraft fuel. 35

It remains to be seen whether hydrogen-fuelled planes would one day take off from Singapore’s airport.