00:00I'm reporting from Singapore International Energy Weeks U 2025 where discussions on regional
00:15cooperation and energy transition are taking center stage. The ASEAN power grid is seen as
00:21a cornerstone of the region's future energy landscape enabling countries to trade electricity
00:26integrate more renewables and reduce costs through shared infrastructure. But to turn
00:31this vision into reality, ASEAN will need coordinated policy frameworks, clear market
00:36mechanism and sustained investment from both public and private sectors.
00:41If you share your resources, you can delay your infrastructure like building a power plant,
00:49or building another transmission network, your grid, if you have a strong interconnected
00:56system with your neighbors. So those money can save, can reduce the cost of energy in a country
01:05like Malaysia. And energy security, what will be the cost? If I may ask you, what will be the
01:11cost implication to the economy if you have a blackout? Massive, it's huge. So those
01:18security costs can be shared among ASEAN members if you work, if grid are interconnected
01:26together. So those are the savings, can be translated into bringing down the cost of energy, not
01:33only electricity, also other energy costs. So again, the way forward for each of ASEAN members
01:41said is to work together, that can also translate into a cost saving. And then, you know, you mentioned
01:49about the tariff, electricity tariff, and the cost of fuel, energy that contributed, also contributing
01:58to this cost of electricity. So by sharing, by working together, that will help managing the volatility
02:08as well. You know, the cost can be very volatile. But if you build more and more renewable energy,
02:17solar, wind, there's no running costs, solar and wind. So you only spend, you know, capital costs, initial
02:27capital costs, but running costs is almost free, you know, wind and solar. So that also address the volatility.
02:34If you were to pay the hedging, you know, to hedge, you know, you never know the crude and the gas
02:40price, even the cold price, can be very volatile. We experience this during COVID and post-COVID,
02:47during Ukraine war, Russian war. So again, renewable energy can provide the answer of managing the volatility
02:56of the hydrocarbon costs in future. With ASEAN member states having diverse energy capacities,
03:04Razib says, inclusivity and transparency are key to ensuring no country is left behind.
03:11So we have this slogan, no one left behind, no one will be left behind. And the other aspect that we are
03:19looking at the market mechanism. So when you talk about market mechanism, it's a commercial agreements,
03:27commercial terms and so on. So they'll be very transparent how even you decide the willing charges,
03:34how you decide the power purchase agreement between the B2B in the open.
03:42So I believe the market will determine the pricing and the cost and everything has to be fair. So take
03:53example, Laos, we always say Laos is like a battery for the South Asian, for the ASEAN. So if they were to
04:02sell the power to their neighboring countries, they will get, you know, whatever the right price for the
04:08resources, especially the hydro resources. And Vietnam, they have a lot of wind resources,
04:13so they will get the right price. So it's all based on the commercial and the market that
04:19we're going to design properly. So to answer to you, yes, it is a thing that we are going to work
04:28fairly and open and transparent and to the satisfaction of all ASEAN member states.
04:35ASEAN Center for Energy also plays a pivotal role in driving this vision forward through
04:42harmonized standards, policy alignment and robust frameworks to enable cross-border power trade.
04:50ASEAN Energy Minister also agreed on the next five years' business plan we call ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy
04:59Cooperation starting next year until 2030. So we're going to put up the implementation activities plan
05:09aligned with this strategic objective and aligned with this KPI given to us to finish within five years.
05:17Again, we have seven program areas. We call seven levers. So APG is the number one and levers.
05:22So, of course, in the beginning that we discussed all those things, this thing to do, harmonizing our Greek code,
05:31technical code, aligning national and regional policy and determining the willing charges and
05:39or the practical and the terms and reference on power purchase agreement and so on. So how can operator,
05:49utility operator from one country to communicate in a protocol and so on and so forth. So ASEAN will be busy
05:59as a secretariat and we come out with all the framework. Not to forget the importance of renewable energy
06:05certificate. We also given the task to finalize the REC standard of framework, a common framework which is
06:12acceptable to all our thought, all ten ASEAN membership. And one important thing, the other framework
06:19that we're going to finish by October next year is submarine framework, submarine cable framework. So there
06:27is going to be another interesting project not only in on land or inland. There will be a lot of you know
06:35projects that involve laying submarine cable crossing the ASEAN-Achipalago.
06:43As ASEAN advances its power grid ambitions, collaboration both within the region and with global partners
06:50will be critical. The challenge now lies in translating plans into projects and commitments into connections.
06:58From Sioux 2025, I'm Fayanashe reporting for Astro Awani.
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