Traditional energy sources such as coal and fossil fuels are increasingly making way for cleaner, renewable alternatives worldwide. In ASEAN, the focus is on how the region can accelerate the integration of low carbon energy solutions into the power mix.
The final edition of the SIEW Energy Insights Webinar Series, co-hosted by SIEW and the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS), the organiser of SIEW partner event Asia Clean Energy Summit, thought leaders discussed the ways ASEAN can respond to drive clean energy adoption.
Dolf Gielen, Director of Innovation and Technology Centre, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and Justin Wu, Head of Asia-Pacific, BloombergNEF, delivered presentations on renewable energy projections in ASEAN. They were later joined by Frank Phuan, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, Sunseap Group, and Nirupa Chander, Country Managing Director-Singapore, Hitachi ABB Power Grids, in a panel discussion moderated by Nessa Anwar, Multimedia Journalist, CNBC International.
Key Highlights include:
- Bright outlook for renewable energy in ASEAN: In sharing IRENA’s ongoing research, Mr Gielen said “With current energy policies in place, the use of renewable energy would reach 39% by 2050. Yet, there is potential that it will become ASEAN’s major source of energy, making up three-quarters of the energy mix”.
- Resilient even in the face of a pandemic: Mr Wu highlighted that while oil majors are making significant investment cuts due to falling oil prices, many companies see the move to renewables as a long-term strategic shift that goes beyond the pandemic.
- Collaboration the key piece to the renewable puzzle: Ms Chander believes that the infrastructure is already in place to integrate renewable energy with power grids. The next step is greater interconnectivity between countries to maximise the integration of renewables and optimising power generation and distribution.
- In the discussion on the feasibility of deploying offshore renewable solutions to overcome land limitations in ASEAN, Mr Phuan shared an example of how a recent project’s biggest issue lies in identifying the location as it requires the unanimous decision of 12 different government agencies.