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Powering up Indonesia’s economy with the ASEAN grid
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PLN technicians work on a 150kV high-voltage powerline in West Kalimantan. The powerline's completion while raise the western Kalimantan electric grid's capacity by 4 percent to 45.1MW. (PLN/PLN)
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comprehensive interconnection of ASEAN’s power grid has been a long-held dream, first emerging into serious discourse in the 1980s. Now, almost four decades later, we might finally be approaching a moment when the pressure for climate action moves this idea toward a more established reality.
The push for renewables in Southeast Asia
Electricity demand in Southeast Asia is growing at a phenomenal rate — forecast to triple in volume from 2022 to 2050 according to the ASEAN Energy Outlook. Meeting this surging demand while balancing the energy trilemma of secure, affordable and sustainable energy will not be easy.
Nations are increasingly looking to renewable energy sources to form part of the solution, with most ASEAN countries targeting around 30 percent share of renewable energy in the power mix by 2030.
ASEAN benefits from diverse and varied renewable energy capacities to achieve these ambitions — substantial geothermal capacity in Indonesia and Philippines, wind and solar in Vietnam, hydropower capacity in Laos and Malaysia and significant solar energy capacity across the region especially in Thailand and Malaysia.
However, integrating renewable technologies has its own set of challenges. It requires investment both in technologies and grid upgrades in transportation renewable electricity from the point of generation to location of demand. Intermittent generation will also require careful investment to balance peak times of generation with peak demand.
Ultimately, renewables potential will also rely on local geography and weather.
