Former EMA Director Appointed CEO of H2G Amid Leadership Transition

Pek Hak Bin, a former board member of Singapore's Energy Market Authority (EMA), has taken the position as new chief executive officer of energy transition company H2G Green from Lim Shao-Lin, who stepped down on 31 May 2025. Pek, 59, has more than 30 years of experience in the energy industry and joined on 1 June. The leadership transition is H2G's follow-through as it aims to increase its focus on clean energy research and development and expand operations throughout Southeast Asia.

Before his appointment, Pek was executive director in United Petroleum International between 2016. His career experience is in senior positions in the private and public sectors, including partner and oil and gas regional head at KPMG Singapore and chairman and director in BP Singapore. His experience in BP involved initial engagement in the development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Asia.

H2G Green, which is listed on the Singapore Exchange's Catalist, owns a diversified portfolio consisting of a 50.1% interest in last-mile distributor specialist GasHubUnited Utility and a 52% shareholding in hydrogen producer Green Energy Investment Holding (GEIH). It also owns an interest in lifestyle brand P5 Design Ventures.

The company views LNG as a bridging fuel, especially for Singapore that is working towards being net-zero by 2050. Natural gas is the lowest carbon content fossil fuel, and it has played a vital role in enhancing the country's energy security. The company, however, has also identified hydrogen as a rising component of Singapore's clean energy future, subject to scalable solutions being attained.

H2G signalled Pek's appointment as the beginning of a strategic expansion phase with three main areas of focus: driving clean energy innovation in Singapore, regionally expanding into other markets like the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia, and co-operating with regional organizations which have H2G's clean energy values.

The transition is taking place following Lim Shao-Lin's resignation after nearly six years at the helm as CEO, citing the need to sort out private matters. However, the transition is occurring while Lim is being sued. He has been charged under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act for allegedly making untrue statements in connection with the employment of three persons from 2018 to 2020. One is against a former chief investment officer of H2G, and the others are against Gashubin Engineering workers who are employed as a subsidiary of GasHub.

Under filings, H2G did not take part in the case, nor were senior management or other directors requested to aid in the investigation. Lim is released on bail and has been summoned to appear in court on 5 October 2025.

Even though he had resigned as executive director, Lim will still be associated with the firm. He is also a GEIH director and a GasHub consultant, delivering technical and operational solutions and assisting in business development in Southeast Asia. Lim also maintains strong presence within H2G as a principal shareholder. As of 2 June, he owned directly 163.7 million of the firm's ordinary shares and was also estimated to have a stake in the 409.7 million shares owned by GasHub, on which he has a 60.25% stake. His wife, Leow Sau Wan, also stayed on the board as an executive director.

Lim was formerly spearheading H2G's strategy and is behind taking expanding startup GasHub up to a regional energy player. The company posted a narrower net loss of S$2.8 million for the six months to 31 March, from S$3.6 million a year before for the comparable period. H2G closed on 20 June at S$0.006 per share with a market cap of around S$8.7 million.

Over the next few years, H2G will be highlighting the ability of local players to lead Singapore's decarbonisation efforts, build operations in ASEAN, and forge partnerships based on clean energy solutions. The company's view is that regional collaboration will be crucial to making its clean energy transition and long-term business sustainability possible.

Source: Low Youjin, The Business Times