By Ling Hui
KUCHING, Oct 30: Japanese company Sumitomo Corporation has proposed to work with Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) Energy to set up the first hydrogen plant with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes in Bintulu.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg emphasised that this investment will put Sarawak at the forefront of the new “hydrogen economy” in the Southeast Asia region.
“The state government has gotten investment proposal from Sumitomo, which is owned by Nippon Oil, to work together with SEDC Energy to produce 10,000 tonnes of hydrogen.
“The plant will be located in Bintulu. With the plant which can be scaled up to 20,000 tonnes, Sarawak will become a major producer of hydrogen in this region. This is the first in Southeast Asia,” he addressed the Sarawak Oil and Gas Industry dinner at a hotel here tonight.
The state government, Abang Johari reiterated, is taking steps at the forefront of developing what could be a major source of energy in the future.
“As you all know, we are going for hydrogen economy and Sarawak seemed to be the frontrunner in this new game.
“This is something new based on renewable resources using water. Therefore, it can become one of the reasons to participate in carbon credit trading,” he said.
With this ambitious target, Abang Johari added that he had requested the State Attorney-General to promulgate a new law to enable Sarawak to trade carbon credit as a commodity.
“With that, Sarawak will be at the forefront to promote green energy. We are going to be a frontrunner in this region for the hydrogen economy.
“All these efforts will steer Sarawak to become a developed state in all sectors of our economy by 2030,” he said.
Abang Johari stressed that he had secured the State Sales Tax (SST) from Petronas, part of the revenue from the oil and gas industry which amount to roughly RM3.2 billion to the Sarawak coffers.
“Thus, with the state’s participation in the upstream activities of oil and gas, we do hope we will get some more dollars and cents to the Sarawak coffers.
“The distribution of gas in the state is now under the state government. Therefore, the distribution of gas will be undertaken by Petros and will augur well for downstream activities of oil and gas in the state,” he added.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, Ministry of Urban Development and Natural Resources permanent secretary Datu Sr Zaidi Mahdi, Public Works Department (JKR) director Datu Ir Zuraimi Sabki and Petros chairman Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr Hamid Bugo were among this present. — DayakDaily
