Hong Kong and China Gas builds zero-carbon hydrogen know-how as it aims for a greener future

Towngas has been conducting pilot programmes on hydrogen utilisation and equipment installations for past two years, managing director Alfred Chan says

Company shelves plan to raise gas prices in Hong Kong this year

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Hong Kong and China Gas’ plant in Tai Po, New Territories. The company plans to expand its waste-to-energy businesses to cut carbon emission. Photo: Martin Chan

Published: 7:30am, 3 Jun 2021Updated: 7:47am, 3 Jun 2021

Hong Kong and China Gas (Towngas) is developing know-how to produce zero-carbon hydrogen as part of its long-term decarbonisation plan.

The city’s dominant natural gas supplier in the city and one of the largest distributors in mainland China also said that it has shelved a plan to raise the price of gas in Hong Kong this year, as the city makes a gradual recovery from an economic downturn brought about by the anti-government protests in 2019 and worsened by the coronavirus pandemic.

The previous price increase was in August 2017 when Towngas raised fees by 4.3 per cent. It had then promised not to raise prices again for the next two years.

“We have been conducting pilots on hydrogen utilisation and equipment installations as early as two years ago,” managing director Alfred Chan Wing-kin told reporters after the company’s annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday. “We have also been doing research and development on hydrogen production, distribution and applications.”

Alfred Chan Wing-kin, managing director of Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited, speaks during the company’s annual general meeting on Wednesday. Photo: Handout

Currently, hydrogen is primarily produced from fossil fuels in mainland China, since so-called green hydrogen produced from the electrolysis of water using renewable energy like wind and solar power is expensive and needs to be scaled up for costs to come down.