Grids key to boosting SE Asia’s renewable power: Ember

: Electricity
25/05/15

Up to 30GW of solar and wind power could be unlocked along planned grid routes in southeast Asia, which would help meet growing power demand in the region, according to a report released today by think-tank Ember.

The Asean group of nations is still heavily reliant on fossil fuels, but solar and wind power are expected to constitute 23pc of the energy mix by 2030, up from 4pc currently, according to Ember. Asean as a region targets a 51GW increase in solar, and a 109GW increase in wind, hydro, geothermal and bioenergy combined by 2040.

Electricity demand is rising in the region, because of economic growth as well as greater demand from data centres and transport electrification. Expanding and modernising the region's grid infrastructure would help to allow for the development of more clean energy, improve system flexibility and support regional power sharing.

Up to 24GW of potential solar power and 5.6GW of wind power are situated in Indonesia's Riau islands and Sumatra, Malaysia's Sarawak, Cambodia and Brunei, where there are existing and planned grid projects. But the electricity generated from these projects needs transmission lines to be transported to demand centres.

Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand collectively plan to add 45,078km of transmission lines between 2023-30. But this is slightly less than half of IEA's projections that indicate southeast Asia needs to expand transmission lines by 100,000km between 2021-30 to meet its clean energy targets.

Regional variance

There is significant disparity between Asean countries in their clean energy potential, with some having abundant wind and solar capacity, and others having hydropower and geothermal resources. These resources also tend to be subject to seasonal variations.

Regional grid interconnection is hence "key to using these resources in combination, boosting renewables use and economic growth" states the report.

The Asean Power Grid has seen some progress through the Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore (LTMS-PIP) project and the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines Power Integration Project (BIMP-PIP).

But grid development plans still vary significantly across the region. Only Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore have signed the UN's Global Energy Storage and Grids Pledge, which aims to deploy 1,500GW of energy storage and 25mn km of grid infrastructure globally by 2030. Additionally, investment required to expand electricity grids, including regional interconnections, could reach $22bn/yr by 2035, the IEA said.

Asean's clean energy future hence depends on cross-border data sharing, addressing infrastructure requirements, momentum in policymaking for regional co-operation, and aligning investments with future energy demand, says Ember.

By Prethika Nair

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25/05/20

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25/05/20

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EU, UK to ‘work towards’ linking carbon markets

25/05/19

EU, UK to ‘work towards’ linking carbon markets

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UK offshore wind sector needs stability: Industry

25/05/16

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Austrian PV additions fall 100MW on year in 1Q

25/05/15

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