SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Five Singapore and two Japanese companies on Monday (March 30) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop ways to use hydrogen as a low-carbon energy source in the city-state.

The seven companies are: PSA Corporation, Jurong Port, City Gas, Sembcorp Industries, Singapore LNG Corporation, Chiyoda Corporation and its main shareholder, Mitsubishi Corporation.

The MOU was signed with support from the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

The five Singapore companies will evaluate and develop a business case for the technical and commercial feasibility of hydrogen import and usage in the Republic using Chiyoda's SPERA Hydrogen technology to safely transport hydrogen in chemical tankers at normal atmospheric temperature and pressure.

To accelerate maritime decarbonisation, publicly funded researchers will work alongside the companies to study how technologies such as catalysis can be further developed for the production and distribution of hydrogen.

PSA International South-east Asia chief executive officer (CEO) Ong Kim Pong said lowering carbon emissions to reduce the impact of climate change is a vital pillar of the company's business.

He added: "Powering our horizontal transport with hydrogen is just the beginning, and we will see its application expanding in the future, playing a part in our Smart Grid systems with EMA (Energy Market Authority), and augmenting business adjacencies in our future Tuas Ecosystem."

City Gas CEO Kenny Tan added that the company is studying the viability of using green hydrogen in its town gas manufacturing process to further lower carbon emissions. It currently produces and sells piped town gas to over 860,000 homes and businesses.