Pilot hydrogen production plant and refuelling station suspended

By BERNAMA | 30 September 2019


KUCHING: Sarawak Energy’s pilot hydrogen production plant and refuelling station, the first in South East Asia, and built to provide fuel for state-run hydrogen buses, has been halted temporarily following the detection of contaminant liquid.

State transport minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin said in a statement that currently, a team of experts from Linde EOX Sdn Bhd, the technology partner and system integrator for the pilot project, was working with Sarawak Energy to address the issue which was detected during the plant’s performance test.

"The performance test is a robust process that provides for checks to be conducted to ensure that matters detected are fixed during the warranty period, and also to resolve any teething issues which are not uncommon for research and development projects. The facility is still under warranty by Linde," the statement said.

The Sarawak government had mooted the idea of using renewable energy buses as an initiative towards providing public transportation with cleaner emissions, and started the trial run in August with three hydrogen fuel-cell buses supplied by Foshan Feishi Automobile Manufacture Co Ltd, China.

According to a local news report, the buses were supposed to be accessible to the public and tourists at no charge, starting Sept 15, with two buses to be made available to the public while the third would be for tourists.

News of the plant as a research and development project, was announced by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg in November 2017.

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