Sarawak Will Open Hydrogen Car Assembly Factory Instead of Battery Car Factory

Dr Hazland while visiting an exhibition held in conjunction with ICCE at the Borneo Convention Center Kuching (Photo source: Utusan Borneo)

A hydrogen car assembly plant will be built in the state of Sarawak involving cooperation from foreign companies.

Deputy Minister of Energy and Environmental Sustainability Dr Hazland Abang Hipni said the plan to establish a factory here is in line with Sarawak's green economy policy.

"In future, we will have a hydrogen car assembly plant here where the price of vehicles become more affordable compared to imported cars. 

"A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been held and the land (site) has also been identified around here," he stated during a press conference after officiating the 18th International Conference on Clean Energy (ICCE) at Borneo Kuching Convention Centre (BCCK) yesterday.

The countries involved in the project have not shared with further details to be announced by the Minister of Energy and Environmental Sustainability Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.

According to Dr Hazland, the state of Sarawak needs to take the initiative to prepare its own green economic policy and switch to the use of electric vehicles (EVs) based on hydrogen fuel cells or FCEVs.

Deputy Minister of Energy and Environmental Sustainability Dr Hazland Abang Hipni (Photo source: Suara Sarawak)

"Although there are not as many cars or motorbikes in Sarawak as in other places, we still need to take action and Sarawak will start the transition towards EVs.

He added that the main contributors to world air pollution are the aviation industry and the oil and gas industry, in addition to heavy industry.

"There are two types of EVs which are Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV), using batteries which we feel may not be very green because of the battery production which is still a question.

"Therefore, for Sarawak, we focus on FCEVs where the fuel uses hydrogen. Hene, we have hydrogen buses that are three years old," he said.

The difference between battery-powered and hydrogen-powered EVs (Photo source: Elements)

Dr Hazland mentioned that he had recently participated in a meeting with the Prime Minister and representatives from other states regarding the use of EVs in Malaysia.

The country needs to create alternatives to help deal with climate change issues using green technology such as EVs.

"We have come up with the conclusion that the government needs to do something to encourage the use of EVs, first is the import duty for EVs and secondly maybe our local cars need to change towards EV production," he explained.

Norway, for example, has almost succeeded in transitioning to full EV use in just four years. Now, 75 percent of the cars used in the country are EVs after the government abolished EV import taxes and introduced income tax discounts to EV users.