By Shikin Louis
KUCHING, June 9: As Sarawak moves towards commercialising green hydrogen in three to four years, the public are invited to gain exposure to the upcoming industry at the inaugural Asia Pacific Green Hydrogen Conference and Exhibition 2024 (APGH 2024), which will commence from tomorrow until June 12.
Sarawak Deputy Minister of Energy and Environmental Sustainability (MEESty) Datuk Dr Hazland Abang Hipni said the event scheduled to take place at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) will involve at least 96 companies from 15 nations, 500 conference delegates, 100 exhibition booths, and 4,000 expected trade visitors.
Apart from the convergence of hydrogen experts, industry players and potential investors, the conference will serve as an opportunity for local companies to explore the potential downstream, midstream and upstream industries related to hydrogen production.
“From there, they know that Sarawak is offering them facilities and infrastructure such as green power from our hydro.
“With our regulatory framework and our human resource training, which we are doing now, in three to four years, we will be ready,” he said at a press conference after his walkabout visit to BCCK here today.
He also mentioned that the Sarawak government, through SEDC Energy Sdn Bhd, will be the main investor in the upcoming hydrogen industry, and it will involve partnerships with various parties, including international companies from Japan, Korea, and Singapore.
The industry, he said, would open up more than 10,000 employment opportunities for Sarawakians, stating that one hydrogen plant will require about 1,000 workers.
The APGH 2024 is organised by Borneo Business Connect Sdn Bhd in collaboration with the MEESty and bolstered by support from Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak).
Entry to the exhibition and tech talks in the same hall is free of charge, but the conference would incur some fees. For more information, visit its website at https://hydrogenapac.com/.
At the same time, Borneo Business Connect Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Mona Abdul Manap said the conference would have different sections where companies can explore the different business models that they can be part of, such as the electrolysers or production, to name a few.
“We also have our financial institution partners that will explain the financing part or the risks related to it and how we want to mitigate the risks.
“So there are different parts of the ecosystem that we’ll be discussing, apart from the capacity building on how they can actually upskill their own in-house manpower to fit into the hydrogen economy,” she explained.
Also present were Borneo Business Connect Sdn Bhd director Nadzeem Abd Rahman; MEESty’s Head of Energy Division, Dr Nurleyna Yunus; and Brooke Holding Sdn Bhd representative Dato Adrian Ching. — DayakDaily
