MP Tan Wu Meng raised the idea of Singapore's potential as a hydrogen hub in Parliament last week (Budget 2022 debate: Call to explore hydrogen, nuclear power to diversify S'pore's energy mix, March 1).

Dr Tan said Singapore's dependency on natural gas for 95 per cent of the nation's electricity needs is "a serious concentration of risk". He added that there is a case to further diversify our electricity sources, and urged more energy resilience and energy security.

There are many limitations to producing renewable energy in Singapore. There is not enough wind power; offshore wind farms are not practical as they might obstruct maritime traffic. There is only so much space on rooftops for solar panels. Nuclear power is not an option for now.

In a crisis, we need at least some power generation capacity, with fuel reserves to last for months, if not years.

Green hydrogen is an ideal pathway for countries with good access to renewable energy. However, in Singapore, we cannot get electricity cheaply enough to run electrolysers domestically for hydrogen to be generated at a competitive cost.

Some Singapore companies have developed methods to produce green hydrogen fuel locally.

With these innovations, Singapore could be energy-resilient. We could create a new "hydrogen economy" here.

Singapore could be an exporter of the technology and build plants to manufacture equipment that generates hydrogen elsewhere in the world.

Derrick Tan

This letter has been edited for accuracy.