Singapore’s sole piped town gas producer and the nation’s gas utility provider, City Energy, and clean energy solutions provider Gentari Sdn Bhd (Gentari), a wholly-owned subsidiary of PETRONAS, have signed two memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly conduct feasibility studies of a hydrogen supply chain from Malaysia to Singapore, as well as to work together to allow customers to access both parties’ electric vehicle (EV) charging network, so that EV drivers can have a seamless cross-border charging experience across Singapore and Malaysia.
Under the partnership, City Energy and Gentari will leverage each other’s strengths, expertise and resources to pursue opportunities in the import of hydrogen into Singapore.
In addition to supporting Singapore’s National Hydrogen Strategy, which was announced in October 2022 as a key decarbonisation pathway to support Singapore’s international climate commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, the agreements enable City Energy to explore alternate sources of hydrogen to reinforce its decarbonisation efforts. Both parties will also explore other hydrogen-related opportunities.
“This strategic partnership between City Energy and Gentari is a key development for us. As City Energy is the sole piped town gas provider for more than 880,000 homes and businesses, City Energy is well placed to establish a hydrogen supply for the future production of our town gas. We are excited to collaborate with Gentari to develop a hydrogen supply chain which will contribute to our nation’s hydrogen strategy,” said City Energy CEO Perry Ong.
Hydrogen is the largest component in town gas produced at City Energy’s Senoko Gasworks plant, making City Energy one of the largest last-mile carriers of hydrogen in Singapore. The collaboration with Gentari follows City Energy’s ongoing feasibility studies with leading industry partners and institutes of higher learning to explore alternative sources of hydrogen.
“While Gentari aims to become the go-to industry partner for clean hydrogen, we want to be able to provide integrated clean energy solutions for customers in Asia Pacific, among others.
The collaboration with City Energy is taking a step towards the right path in providing that solution. We believe this partnership will be the first of many in Singapore. We are committed to support Singapore in achieving net zero emissions by 2050,” said Gentari Chief Hydrogen Officer Azalbert.
Gentari aims to produce up to 1.2 million tonnes per annum of clean hydrogen to address the future increase of clean energy demand. The collaboration with City Energy will accelerate the adoption of clean hydrogen as an energy source and signifies commitment towards providing clean hydrogen from Malaysia to Singapore.
The second MOU will see Go by City Energy (Go) and Gentari working together to deepen and expand the understanding of the EV market and behaviour of EV users in Singapore and Malaysia, as well as co-deploying publicly accessible EV chargers on each other’s EV networks. The two parties will also explore and identify best practices for mobile roaming applications in both countries.
In April 2022, City Energy launched its EV charging solution arm, Go, to provide EV charging solution as a service to commercial buildings, mixed developments, and private housing estates, to support Singapore’s set target of reduced land transport emissions by 80% from the 2016 peak by, or around 2050.
As the first EV charging service provider to offer cross-border connectivity into Malaysia through a seamless operational service across Singapore and Malaysia with just one mobile application, Go now offers 118 charging points across more than 50 locations in Malaysia through its app, City Energy Go.
This collaboration between Go and Gentari will accelerate the pace of charger deployments by both parties through co-deployment arrangements. Both parties will work on expanding their EV charging networks, allowing EV drivers in both Singapore and Malaysia connectivity and convenience.
