Southeast Asia has enormous renewable energy potential and is facing a historic turning point in shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy to fulfill the region’s growing economy and increasing energy demand. To achieve zero carbon targets, it’s crucial to phase out coal and switch to renewable energy and improve the interconnection of regional networks. Many ASEAN members have joined international efforts to finish using coal in energy. Achieving this commitment would require coordinated and accelerated motion that must start now to achieve success.
To support economic growth and achieve climate goals, ASEAN is committed to accelerating the energy transition. Through Phase II of the ASEAN Action Plan for Energy Cooperation (APAEC), ASEAN goals to attain a 23% share of renewable energy in total primary energy supply by 2025. In addition, the regional plan also includes the optimization of fresh coal technology as certainly one of the focuses of its agenda.
Energy transformation motion plan
This article uses the report Renewable Energy Outlook for ASEAN: Towards a regional Energy Transformation (2nd Edition) prepared by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in collaboration with the ASEAN Energy Center (ACE) to debate the challenges in achieving the goals of the ASEAN Roadmap for energy cooperation (APAEC), phase II: 2021–2025.
The goal that ASEAN is trying to attain is a 65% share of renewable energy in final energy by 2050, in comparison with just 19% in 2018. This goal also goals to cut back energy-related CO2 emissions by 75% in comparison with today policy.
By 2030, the main target might be on increasing installed photovoltaic capability to over 240 GW of installed capability, putting greater than 13 million battery electric vehicles on the road equipped with 3.7 million charging stations, and large-scale actions focused on energy and material efficiency and circular economy, in addition to scaling up sustainable bioenergy, hydropower and geothermal energy.
Then, in the long term, it’s about integrating and modernizing regional electricity systems to maximise the entire expansion of renewable electricity from around 2,770 GW to three,400 GW by 2050. In addition, the phase-out of coal-fired power plants within the near future needs to be accelerated and, as much as possible, avoid developing infrastructure based on fossil fuels to forestall the creation of stranded assets.
In the transport sector, the number of electrical vehicles should increase to over 100 million battery electric cars and almost 300 million two- and three-wheeled vehicles by 2050. This is why electronic vehicles are being discussed on the ASEAN 2023 Summit. Next, domestic bioenergy consumption must greater than double to 7.6 exajoules (EJ) by 2050. This is because bioenergy can be necessary in all end-use sectors, especially in modes of transport similar to aviation and a few industrial sectors.
Furthermore, energy efficiency measures and technological standards needs to be regarded as fundamental principles. They must also be supported by significant investments, requiring investments of over USD 5 trillion (US dollars) within the period to 2050 and cumulative investments of USD 1,616 billion by 2050. In turn, these investments can have an impact on and will reduce energy intensity by 45% by 2050 in comparison with 2018 levels.
How did it get this far?
Several corporations within the region have began constructing facilities powered by renewable energy to cut back their carbon footprint. ASEAN Member States’ state-owned enterprises (AMS) have also been used to speed up the mixing of renewable energy sources within the region. Nevertheless, the renewable energy potential in Southeast Asia continues to be very large and has not been fully exploited. One of them is Indonesia, which has a complete renewable energy potential of 417.8 GW, but by 2021 only 11.5 GW was used. Despite this, the Indonesian government has developed an energy supply marketing strategy that goals so as to add 20.9 GW of renewable energy generation capability by 2030 and projects that by 2060, 60% of the country’s energy will come from renewable sources.
Other countries, similar to Laos, have also made progress in hydropower development and energy exports. In fact, Laos energy exports have contributed to Laos’ economic growth by over 3%. In Malaysia alone, three islands have already been proposed to develop into green energy islands. Malaysia can be beginning to tap into the potential of renewable energy from the ocean, similar to wind, waves, ocean currents and tides. Then in 2020, Malaysia can have 50 biogas power plants supplying electricity to the national grid.
Brunei Darussalam also plans to extend its renewable capability to at the very least 300 MW by 2035 through joint renewable energy projects. Meanwhile, in Cambodia, renewable energy currently accounts for 40% of the energy market share. This renewable energy comes from hydropower, solar energy and biomass. The country also insists that tourism operators use renewable energy of their operations. Next in line is Thailand, which has began industrial operation of the world’s largest floating hybrid photovoltaic installation and plans to put in one other 24 MW.
On the opposite hand, Singapore has conducted a joint feasibility study on hybrid renewable energy from wind, solar and tidal energy. Another example is the Philippines, which has launched a green energy auction for two GW of renewable energy projects, including 130 MW of hydropower, 1.26 GW of solar energy and 380 MW of wind power. Vietnam also plans to extend the share of renewable energy, including hydro, wind, solar and biomass, to 33% of total electricity by 2030.
Additionally, several Southeast Asian countries have signed the Global Coal-to-Clean Energy Transition Statement (GCCPS) to speed up the transition to scrub energy sources. ASEAN members have also updated their policies to draw more international investment to finance renewable energy projects. Some AMS are also collaborating with other countries and personal institutions to extend their financial capability and speed up renewable energy projects.
Reference:
ASEAN Energy. (2023). 2022 Summary – Renewable Energy Insights.
International Renewable Energy Agency. (2022). Renewable Energy Prospects for ASEAN: Towards a Regional Energy Transformation, Second Edition.
International Renewable Energy Agency. (2022). Press release: ASEAN can meet two-thirds of its energy needs with renewable energy sources.
