The need for Southeast Asian countries to transition to renewable energy in order to battle climate change is reviving a 20-year-old idea for the region to exchange power. In Bali, Indonesia, Malaysia and Indonesia signed an agreement last month to investigate 18 prospective areas for the construction of cross-border transmission lines.
Demand for power is rising, and governments have understood the transition away from fossil fuels requires an interconnected infrastructure.
The region’s nations used to be more concerned with energy security, relying heavily on fossil fuels and frequently building more capacity than they actually needed.
But as the cost of renewable energy decreases, hydroelectric, solar, and wind power become more accessible. And every ASEAN nation, with the exception of the Philippines, has vowed to halt carbon emissions by the year 2050.
To achieve its ambitions for renewable energy, Singapore, a small city-state with a population of 6 million and almost no natural resources, must import clean energy.
Regional grids can assist in bridging the gap between where energy is required and where it can be produced, assisting nations in adjusting to external shocks like sharp increases in the price of oil. Only 1% of Malaysia’s annual electricity comes from clean sources. In an effort to create a domestic clean energy economy, it forbade the export of renewables in 2021.
Despite the fact that this year’s export ban on clean energy from Indonesia was lifted, it still stands. Another roadblock is the lack of regulatory oversight in the area for tasks like putting in submarine power cables. The majority of the technical issues still exist. Each nation uses different voltages, and each has different grid capacities.
Concerns may also arise from China’s participation in the construction of much of the energy infrastructure in the area under the Belt and Road Initiative. But despite intermittent tensions
between China and some of its neighbours over territorial disputes and other issues, generally, Beijing and ASEAN are working on the basis of mutual interests and benefits, stated an expert at the ASEAN Center for Energy.