SEDC Energy, Sumitomo and Eneos fine-tuning Project H2ornbill details

KUCHING (Dec 19): SEDC Energy, together with its Japanese partners Sumitomo Corporation and Eneos Corporation (Eneos), are currently working on the finer details of Project H2ornbill, one of the two major hydrogen plants in Bintulu.

According to a news release, SEDC Energy chief executive officer Robert Hardin along with Sumitomo Corporation representative director, president and chief executive officer Masayuki Hyodo and Eneos representative director and executive vice president Tomohide Miyata recently paid a courtesy call to Japan’s Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ken Saito in Tokyo to brief him on the progress between the parties since the Joint Development Agreement (JDA) for the project was signed last October.

Also joining them was Deputy Energy and Environmental Sustainability Minister Datuk Dr Hazland Abang Hipni.

The JDA was introduced during a photo session ceremony in the presence of Saito at the ASEAN Japan Economic Co-Creation Forum.

The agreement outlined the collaborative establishment of a clean hydrogen supply chain, generating around 90,000 tons of clean hydrogen. This production is also inclusive of the 2,000 tons designated for local consumption in Sarawak.

Under the agreement, SEDC Energy’s role will involve spearheading the technical aspects of hydrogen production, focusing on integrating and optimising the energy procurement process for the project.

The goal for the project is to commence production of clean hydrogen by 2030 and all parties involved will be entering the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) phase soon.

Bintulu was chosen for the hub’s location due to the existing petrochemical industrial complex, which has the advantage of being able to utilise existing facilities for the Methylcyclohexane (MCH) production that will be used to transport hydrogen to Japan.

This collaboration, which has made significant strides, is congruent with Sarawak’s Hydrogen Economy Roadmap, focusing on utilising hydrogen to transform Sarawak into a developed state by 2030.

The project is also seen to further augment Malaysia’s hydrogen ambitions as stated in the New Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR).

The Sarawak H2 Hub and the H2ornbill project is recognised in the national NETR.