Keppel, ExxonMobil to explore low-carbon ammonia solutions for Singapore

Keppel Infrastructure, a unit of Keppel Corp., on April 20 announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ExxonMobil to develop access to low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia for commercial and industrial applications in Singapore.

This MoU follows the Singapore government’s launch of its National Hydrogen Strategy in October 2022, which expects hydrogen to meet up to half of Singapore’s power needs by 2050. As part of this hydrogen strategy, the Energy Market Authority and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore issued an expression of interest in December for proposals to build, own and operate low- or zero-carbon power generation and bunkering facilities on Jurong Island. Currently, natural gas meets most of Singapore’s power generation demand.

Keppel is also looking to use low-carbon hydrogen for Singapore’s first hydrogen-ready 600 MW advanced combined cycle power plant. The Keppel Sakra Cogen plant is expected to operate with at least 30% hydrogen and will have the capability of shifting to run entirely on hydrogen. Currently under construction, the plant will be sited on Jurong Island and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2026.

At the same time, Keppel is conducting a feasibility study of developing a power plant that could use ammonia directly as fuel on Jurong Island.

ExxonMobil is developing its low-carbon hydrogen facility at its integrated complex in Baytown, Texas, from where ammonia will be produced. More than 98% of the associated CO₂ produced by the facility, or around 7mn metric tons/year, is expected to be captured and permanently stored.