Destroyed railway tracks are pictured after major flooding in Kalaw township in Myanmar's southern Shan state on September 19, 2024, following heavy rains in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi. - AFP
JAKARTA/PHNOM PENH (Bernama): In the heart of Southeast Asia one critical fear continues to grip all nations and prolonged neglect could derail the region’s economic success story that Asean has been crafting for years - energy security.
Stretching from Laos, Myanmar to the Philippines, power shortage and accessibility, especially in rural areas remains a nightmare for the people - where schools and healthcare centres grappling with power shortages.
"The decline in energy security poses significant risks, not only to economic stability but also to social cohesion within these nations. It is imperative that Asean governments take decisive action to enhance their energy infrastructure, diversify their energy sources and invest in renewable technologies.
"By doing so, they can ensure a sustainable and resilient energy landscape that meets the needs of their population while fostering regional cooperation,” Jakarta-based Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia’s (ERIA) Senior Energy Economist Dr Han Phoumin told Bernama in an email interview.
Home to a rapidly growing population of nearly 670 million, the region hosts a diverse bustling economies hungry for energy, largely buoyant by rapid modernisation and industrialisation.
The seventh Asean Energy Outlook report projected energy demand to rise about 23 per cent by 2025 from the 2020 level, rising to 473.1 Mtoe (millions of tonnes of oil equivalent) from 385 Mtoe.
Regional energy demand is expected to triple that of 2020 levels by 2050 and without any policy intervention, fossil fuels are projected to continue to dominate the sector until 2050, said the report.
The issue of energy security looms large, with power shortages and limited accessibility affecting both urban and remote areas in developing Asean countries.
"All countries including Asean are facing paramount and pressing challenges to ensure energy security, accessibility and affordability.
"Meeting the growing demand for electricity while pursuing GHG (Greenhouse Gas Protocol) emission reductions in ASEAN will require huge investments in power generation capacity, from decarbonisation strategies such as renewable energy and power system expansion,” said Han.
Asean is facing an energy conundrum - balancing economic growth versus sustainable energy production in the face of climate change that is harming economies and rural livelihoods.
Environment-unfriendly coal and gas power generation will continue to comprise over 40 per cent of the power mix and is likely to continue.
Until 2050 - mainly due to the relatively young age of coal-fired power plants in many Asian countries, particularly Southeast Asia, said Han.
"Recognising that many Asean nations will remain reliant on fossil fuels for the foreseeable future, it is of utmost importance to expedite the deployment of carbon capture, utilisation and storage technologies, acceleration of renewable, and other negative carbon technologies throughout Asean,” he said.
Asean countries can tap its plentiful renewable resources, like solar and wind, to build a resilient and sustainable energy system.
"The Mekong subregion countries - Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam - together with other countries in Asean - Indonesia and Malaysia - are abundant in hydropower resources and biomass.
"High penetration of hydropower, solar PV, wind, and biomass power generation in Asean could be facilitated by future power connectivity and trade within the entire region,” said Han.
He called for fast-tracking energy finance for the energy transition is critical to ensure that countries can secure enough funds to finance their energy transformation. Financing is still one of the most vital issues for new and emerging clean technologies.
While experts will be attending the fourth "Asean International Conference on Energy and Environment” this week in Vientiane, the Laotian capital, the tiny nation is recovering from the aftermath of the devastating Typhoon Yagi that struck in early September.
Over 500 people lost their lives in Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, and telecommunications and power infrastructures were damaged. - Bernama
