ASEAN ministers discuss accelerating shared power grid — Climate Home News
Energy ministers from ASEAN countries, during a meeting in the Philippines, agreed on a strengthened planning mechanism for the ASEAN Power Grid, a project to connect the region’s national electricity grids. They also discussed the possibility of accelerating its implementation, which previous studies had envisaged by 2045.
As Climate Home News reports, the project is intended to enable cross-border trade in clean electricity through a network of underground and subsea interconnectors. This will allow countries with surplus renewable energy generation to supply electricity to neighbors and major consumption hubs, including Singapore.
A response to dependence on fuel imports
The energy crisis following disruptions to oil and gas supplies through the Strait of Hormuz gave the plans new momentum. Against the backdrop of rising prices, Thailand resumed operations at decommissioned coal-fired power plants, while the Philippines declared a national energy emergency.
Philippine Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said that countries in the region have different resources: the Philippines has solar power, Malaysia has hydropower, and Indonesia has geothermal energy. According to her, a shared grid would make it possible to use these resources more efficiently and strengthen energy security.
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Investment and existing connections
According to the International Energy Agency’s estimate, more than $300 billion will be needed to expand and modernize Southeast Asia’s power grids by 2050. Of this amount, $27 billion is required to create cross-border connections by 2040.
As of 2025, nine of the 18 priority interconnector projects were operational, with a total capacity of about 10 GW. Another 13.7 GW is planned by 2040. One existing element of the system is a line through which up to 200 MW of hydropower from Laos reaches Singapore via Thailand and Malaysia.
Among the main obstacles to the project are harmonizing regulatory and legal norms, rules for electricity transmission tariffs, and attracting private capital. Singapore, which generates more than 90% of its electricity from gas, plans to import 6 GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035, a significant portion of it through future regional interconnectors.
