When Singapore burns hydrogen, prices go boom

ELECTRICITY prices are likely to climb to two to three times their current rates if Singapore were to switch out natural gas for low-carbon hydrogen, two experts separately told The Business Times.

That estimate assumes a low-carbon hydrogen cost of US$6.60 per kg and accounts for distribution costs provided domestic hydrogen-compatible infrastructure is already built up, said Chan Siew Hwa, co-director of the Energy Research Institute @ NTU.

Justin Payne, a partner at sustainability consultancy firm ERM, came to the same conclusion by analysing the energy along a value chain that transports green hydrogen from Australia to Singapore in the form of ammonia – a leading candidate as a carrier chemical via which hydrogen can be transported and stored.