I strongly urge Chief Minister Abang Johari to reconsider his direction to venture into the hydrogen economy and be transparent with the people by clearly revealing the economic feasibility study and cost-effectiveness analysis of the whole venture itself, including the construction of the multi-fuel refuelling stations, and the usage of the hydrogen buses, in comparison to other renewable energy powered buses including the common electric buses.
In order to convince Sarawakians that this is a worth-while direction the State should head it, it is only right that they reveal all the necessary information to the public so that there is proper scrutiny to avoid unnecessary spending of funds meant for the people on mega projects that will just turn out to be a huge financial burden to the State in the long run.
The recently launched multi-fuel refuelling stations has raised some questions not just on safety and security of having 2 different highly flammable materials on top of multiple high voltage electric charging ports together, but also the practicality of it for users. It takes a long period to properly charge an electric vehicle, thus will it be impractical for car owners to just leave their vehicles parked in a station far from their homes or even workplace.
The main question that needs to be asked is still the economic feasibility of the whole hydrogen economy in itself. Even though Sarawak is rich in hydroelectric power and water source, but over 95% of the world’s hydrogen is produced using the steam methane reforming process (SMR). This is currently the most economical way of producing hydrogen costing about USD1.40 compared to USD3.00 – 3.30 via Electrolysis as often suggested by Abg Jo.
On top of that, electrolysis of water only has an efficiency of 70-80% compared to steam reforming (85%). Hydrogen produced from Electrolysis requires at least 55kWh of electricity, which based on the rates by Sarawak Energy(SEB) translates to RM16.50 per kilogram of Hydrogen gas. Compression of hydrogen for storage and refuelling Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCV) requires additional 15kWh, which translates to RM4.50 per kilogram of Hydrogen gas.
Transportation and/or distribution of compressed hydrogen gas requires RM4.41 per kg
So, the cost of transportation and/or distribution of compressed 1kg of hydrogen gas requires RM4.41 per kg Production + Storage + Distribution = 16.50 + 4.50 + 4.41 = RM25.41/kg.
Thus, to give a practical example, the Hyundai Nexo car owned by the State Government which cost around RM 300k, with a 6.3kg capacity, will cost more than RM 160+ for a single refuel.
And yet this price does not include the profit margin, capital, operational and maintenance cost which will definitely increase the price up to RM 200 per refuel. Not only is the cost of hydrogen car beyond the reach of most ordinary Sarawakians, but majority will not be able to afford the cost of pumping hydrogen into their vehicles.
Not only is the method of production itself not economically feasible, but its storage, distribution and filling are not cheap either. Hydrogen as we all know, is the universe’s lightest element with a density of 0.08988 g/L. To conveniently store the next generation fuel in a liquid form, H2 needs to be cooled at a cryogenic temperature of -252.8 °C in high pressure tanks up to 700bar (U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, 2020). These extreme temperatures and pressure storage and distribution infrastructure are costly to safely operate and maintain, with high speciality required
With all these considerations, I strongly question the direction Abang Jo and the State Government is taking and should instead look into investing into battery technology and electric vehicles(EV) especially when in Sarawak our power is already largely renewable (70%+ Hydro) and an electric vehicles can easily charge using the power grid anywhere anytime, without investing in a costly hydrogen infrastructure and distribution network.
We already have readily available renewable and sustainable energy in the State that can be pumped directly into a cheaper and simpler alternative. Just because we have the money or a big reserve, we do not want our money to be spend simply on projects that are not cost effective for the people and probably meant only to enrich certain groups of people with big contracts