Linde, Keppel and others to study hydrogen supply chain in Singapore

SINGAPORE, May 12 (Reuters) - Linde Gas Singapore Pte Ltd said on Wednesday it joined four other industry partners to explore the development of infrastructure to supply hydrogen to power data centres owned by Keppel Corp's unit in the city state.

The project is aimed at supplying green hydrogen produced from water and renewable energy to data centres which consume large amounts of electricity. Singapore has recently slowed down the development of data centres, partly due to concerns over their high consumption of energy and water.

Linde signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Keppel Data Centres Holdings Pte Ltd, Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd and Vopak LNG Holding B.V to study the technical and commercial viability of a liquefied hydrogen supply chain.

This includes the feasibility of having a production and liquefaction plant and export terminal at the exporting country, transportation via ocean-going tankers, as well as an import terminal, storage units and regasification facilities in Singapore, Linde said in a statement.

The study is expected to continue until the end of 2021, Linde said. The partners will then decide on the next phase of their collaboration.

(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)