Energy cooperation in ASEAN is guided What This Means for Consumers and Businesses by the ASEAN Plan of Action on Energy Cooperation (APAEC), which serves as the blueprint for initiatives to enhance energy security, accessibility, and sustainability for the region. ASEAN has successfully collaborated to implement flagship projects, namely the ASEAN Power Grid and Trans ASEAN Gas Pipeline Interconnection projects. Despite the scope and complexity of these projects, a total of six power interconnection projects and 12 bilateral gas pipelines have been implemented. ASEAN has also collaborated on energy efficiency (EE), renewable energy (RE), and clean coal initiatives. Through efforts such as the ASEAN Energy Awards, accredited energy auditors scheme, capacity building to promote EE standards and labelling, and solar PV capacity building programmes, ASEAN has improved the region’s energy intensity and raised the share of RE in its power generation mix.
Potential areas for businesses
Clean Coal Technologies: Coal continues to play a major role in ASEAN’s power generation mix. Private sector collaboration in capacity building and innovative solutions for the use of clean coal technologies will be important to meet ASEAN’s power demand. Innovative financing schemes from banking institutions to facilitate investments in coal power plants will also be useful.
New and Innovative EE Technologies: Innovation and best practices from the private sector will help ASEAN improve its energy intensity. The demand for capacity building in energy management services, professional energy auditors, and EE financing is expected to increase in the region.
Solar Leasing, Distributed Generation for Rural Electrification, and Biofuels: These are potential areas for private sector collaboration in the RE sector over the next few years. Greater innovative and creative RE solutions will be needed for the power, industry, and transport sectors to enhance the uptake of RE in ASEAN. This would help to further increase the RE share in the region’s energy mix.
What This Means for Businesses
Good progress has been made in optimising the region’s energy resources to achieve greater energy security by implementing the ASEAN Power Grid and Trans ASEAN Gas Pipeline projects. These projects provide business opportunities for private sector investment, including in the areas of financing and technology transfer. » With the focus on sustainable energy to ensure secure, reliable, and accessible energy to meet ASEAN’s growing demand, private sector involvement and collaboration is critical. Services such as project implementation, capacity building, innovative technologies and solutions will be needed to achieve ASEAN’s energy goals for the next five years.
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