New $540m 'hydrogen-ready' gas power plant to be built in Singapore — with no plans to actually use H2
Infrastructure giant Keppel takes final investment decision on Sakra cogeneration facility, but questions remain over whether it will ever burn hydrogen
Hydrogen: hype, hope and the hard truths around its role in the energy transition
The Singaporean company will initially power the Keppel Sakra Cogeneration Plant using 100% natural gas upon completion in 2026, but claims that the combined-cycle plant “is also designed to operate on fuels with 30% hydrogen content and has the capability of shifting to run entirely on hydrogen”.
However, Keppel has not revealed any plans to actually use hydrogen at the site, and questions remain over whether such a move would be commercially viable.
Hydrogen turbine progress
Some manufacturers are making progress on developing pure-H2 turbines.
For instance, construction equipment specialist Caterpillar has developed kW- and single MW-scale turbines that run on pure hydrogen for its designed-to-order power generators, and Kawasaki is currently working on an 30MW experimental pure-H2 power generation demonstration project with Germany’s RWE.
But on the scale required by a large power station there is still some way to go. Mitsubishi and US engineering firm GE are both working on developing a utility-scale turbine that can burn 100% hydrogen, but it is estimated that it will take three to four years for the technology to come to market.
Siemens also plans to commercialise a pure-hydrogen turbine by 2030.
The use of hydrogen or, indeed, ammonia for power production is therefore expected to be fairly limited worldwide — and in most cases would be used as peaker plants to top up the power supply at times when the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining.
However, Keppels Sakra power station is a combined-cycle gas-turbine facility designed for baseload generation, rather than the cheaper-to-build open-cycle plants that are typically used as peakers.
Nevertheless, Keppel took final investment decision on the facility this week and plans to bring it on line by the end of June 2026 in the Sakra area of Jurong Island, Singapore, at a cost of S$750m ($540m).
The rationale for building the Singaporean plant at a time of sky-high natural gas prices — Asian gas prices recently hit levels not seen since March when Russian started its invasion of Ukraine — appears to be rooted in system reliability.
Decarbonisation pressures may also play a role. Singapore does not have much in the way of renewable energy resources, and the government has recently raised its climate ambition to reach net zero by 2050.
Keppel may be using the hydrogen-switching option in an attempt to future-proof itself against rises on Singapore’s carbon tax regime, which the government is expected to ratchet up to $50-80 per tonne by 2030, from $5 per tonne today.
Efficiency savings
Even so, the Sakra Cogen plant’s streamlined efficiency will save up to 220,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year versus the average efficiency of a Singaporean power plant, Keppel said.
As a result, the announcement was welcome by the island city-state’s energy regulator.
“Singapore’s electricity demand is projected to grow with increasing electrification and economic growth,” said Ngiam Shih Chun, chief executive of Singapore’s Energy Market Authority. “Being hydrogen-ready, this power plant by Keppel will contribute towards greater efficiency and lower carbon emissions. This will support Singapore’s transition to a more sustainable energy future while ensuring the security and reliability of electricity supply to consumers.”
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