Despite solar PV spearheading decarbonisation in the city state, its National Hydrogen Strategy positions hydrogen as a longer-term decarbonisation option, with hydrogen-compatible gas plants and pilot projects designed to preserve optionality beyond 2035.
Mohammed Ziauddin, Power Analyst at GlobalData, said Singapore’s clean energy strategy reflects the constraints of a dense, import-dependent system.
“Solar PV is being scaled within physical limits through targeted policy mechanisms and urban deployment models, while parallel investment in storage, gas modernisation, and regional interconnections support reliability and system balance,” he said.
Singapore’s power system is shaped by long-standing structural constraints related to land availability, limited domestic energy resources, and rising electricity demand from cooling, electrification, and digital infrastructure.
As a net energy importer with no interconnection-free alternatives, Singapore’s energy strategy is guided by the government’s “four switches” framework, which combines natural gas, solar PV, regional power grids, and emerging low-carbon alternatives.
Towards the end of last year, the Singapore business of industrial gas major Air Liquide signed a memorandum of understanding with Aster Chemicals and Energy to assess the production of blue hydrogen using autothermal reforming (ATR) with carbon capture.
The partnership will explore the potential of deploying an ATR unit with carbon dioxide capture, pairing Air Liquide’s reforming technology with Aster’s refining and petrochemical infrastructure.
Both companies said the work supports Singapore’s long-term plan to scale low-carbon hydrogen as part of its transition to net zero by 2050.
Air Liquide is also capitalising on Asia-Pacific’s semiconductor potential. Last September it announced it will build two air separation units to support the expansion of a Singapore-based semiconductor manufacturer in a deal worth €130m, which followed the acquisition of South Korean industrial gas company DIG Airgas for KW4.6trn ($3.3bn) last August.
The industrial gas market in Asia-Pacific will outpace global growth in the years ahead, as hi-tech and health markets surge in the region, delegates attending gasworld’s Asia-Pacific Industrial Gas Conference in Bangkok heard last month.
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