Cooperation needed for clean energy transition, say experts at SIEW 2024

According to the International Energy Agency's Stated Policies Scenario (STEP), energy demand in Southeast Asia is expected to rise from 1300 terawatt (TWh), currently to 2000 TWh by 2035.

Currently, fossil fuels have been meeting over a quarter of this energy demand. 

Given the projected growth of Southeast Asia’s economy and demographics, transitioning to clean energy is essential to mitigate climate impacts. 

Southeast Asia’s importance in terms of the global energy transition was a focal point of the discussion at the Singapore-International Energy Agency (IEA) Ministerial Forum, part of Singapore’s International Energy Week (SIEW), held on October 22. 

Government leaders and authorities in international organisations gathered at the forum under the theme of Unlocking Southeast Asia’s Decarbonisation Potential to discuss challenges and areas of collaboration for clean energy transition. 

“To realise our net zero ambitions, we must act fast, and we must act now,” said Singapore’s Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry, Tan See Leng. 

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It was the first Ministerial Forum held after the launch of the IEA Regional Cooperation Centre in Singapore, announced the previous day.  

The first overseas IEA Centre - why Southeast Asia? 

The establishment of the first IEA Regional Cooperation Centre in Singapore signals the region’s relevance for energy affairs, noted Tan. 

IEA’s Executive Director, Fatih Birol, added that in the next decade, about one-fourth of energy demand will come from Southeast Asia. 

The centre will work with Southeast Asian countries to accelerate clean energy transitions and promote energy security for the region and beyond. Birol noted that some of the projects the Centre aims to work on are clean energy supply chains, interconnection of power grids, and improving energy efficiency, with a more detailed agenda coming soon.  

The centre also aims to enhance regional cooperation for productive results, which is particularly tricky given the different levels of development of each country, a problem also discussed at SIEW last year. 

Although Singapore has the resources to embark on energy transition and decarbonisation, most of the countries in the region do not, noted US Department of Energy, Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs, Andrew Light. 

To address this challenge, the Centre will work with financial institutions and multilateral development banks in the region to long-term investments in decarbonisation projects and clean energy. 

Collaboration over competition  

Unchecked climate change represents a national security challenge for each country, said Australia’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen.  

He emphasised the importance of regional cooperation to achieve objectives of international impact, as it is the global energy transition. For Australia, this means taking advantage of its renewable resources and capacities to help its neighbours decarbonise, he added. 

The Energy Market Authority (EMA) recently granted Conditional Approval to the import of 1.75 gigawatts of low-carbon electricity from Australia to Singapore.  

The electricity is expected to harness solar power from Australia’s Northern territory and reach Singapore via subsea cables.  

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“Decarbonisation is too important to be done alone, too big for any country to undertake in isolation,” Bowen noted, adding that the office in Singapore provides an opportunity to expand similar initiatives and enhance regional collaboration. 

Navigating the decarbonisation journey 

According to Tan, the IEA Singapore office will provide policy and technical advice to help countries adopt the best strategies to decarbonise while maintaining affordability and energy security. 

For instance, the region has abundant carbon capture and storage (CSS) potential that is could unlocked with the right policies and financing instruments.  

With supply from Malaysia and Indonesia, and demand from emitter nations like Japan and South Korea, this opportunity could be critical for collective regional decarbonisation, said Tan.  

“I would be far more confident in the success of the global energy transition we require if more parts of the world have the same commitment to regional cooperation as Southeast Asia does,” Light said.  

To this end, the ASEAN Power Grid is one of the regional initiatives that aims to enhance energy security and renewable energy investments. This electricity trading plan has 30 gigawatts worth of potential interconnection that, if developed, can catalyse a clean energy transition for the region. 

IEA’s Chief Energy Economist, Tim Gould, emphasised that increasing investments in clean energy projects, such as power grids, is essential to tackling the region's energy security vulnerabilities.