Hydrogen and Its Derivatives
Addressing the technical and deployment challenges associated with landing and using hydrogen and its carriers in Singapore.
Last updated on 21 September 2026
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Hydrogen and Its Derivatives
Low-carbon hydrogen and its derivatives, such as ammonia, could complement natural gas as a fuel for power generation and as a feedstock or energy source for industrial processes. However, costs remain high. Hydrogen must be liquefied or bound onto a carrier to be shipped long distances, and energy is lost at every conversion step.
Given Singapore’s limited domestic renewable energy resources, a significant proportion of our low-carbon hydrogen will likely have to be imported, so these conversion losses must be considered by Singapore.
Beyond cost, deployment raises two further constraints. Singapore's transmission code requires combined-cycle gas turbines to switch to a backup fuel while running, so hydrogen-fired generation must be able to hot switch to diesel within a short window. Singapore's dense urban environment also leaves little room for the buffer zones that hydrogen and ammonia facilities conventionally require.
AEDO’s research focus is therefore on addressing the technical and deployment challenges associated with landing and using hydrogen and its carriers in Singapore. Our R&D strategy for hydrogen will address the following challenges:
Lower Landed Costs of Hydrogen
Challenge statement: Develop scalable, carrier-agnostic dehydrogenation or hydrogen liberation technologies capable of producing end-use-ready H₂ at < US$1/kg-H₂ liberation cost, while minimising energy consumption, emissions, footprint and carrier/catalyst losses.
Enable Safe, Reliable Hot-Switching of Fuel from Hydrogen or Its Derivatives
Challenge statement: Develop fuel-changeover technologies for combustors that enable safe, reliable hot-switching from hydrogen or its derivatives to diesel or other stockpile-compatible fuels within ≤10 minutes, while maintaining combustion stability in accordance with EMA’s Transmission Code.
Improve Deployment Safety of Hydrogen and Its Derivatives
Challenge statement: Develop technologies and inherently safer facility designs to enable high-density deployment of hydrogen and its derivatives, achieving a safety/exclusion footprint of <30 km² per 1 MTPA H₂-equivalent capacity while meeting prevailing Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA)/As low as reasonably practicable (ALARP) requirements and minimising off-site, domino and escalation risks to adjacent infrastructure.