Since the beginning of 2019, Energy Foundation China has supported the China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute to study on clean energy cooperation among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The institute recently finished a joint research report with the ASEAN Centre for Energy on how ASEAN countries have implemented power interconnection projects and what their future prospects are.

This report summarizes the current status of ASEAN power development, evaluates the progress and implementation of 16 bilateral power interconnection projects planned by ASEAN members, analyzes the benefits of ASEAN power interconnection on societies, economies, and regional energy transition, and identifies in detail the challenges facing each project. In response to the current regional market barriers and technical obstacles within ASEAN, this report also puts forward next-step policy recommendations, including establishing regional cooperation platforms, unifying power-trading standards, promoting cross-border power trade, strengthening the ASEAN Energy Regulatory Network, and combining power interconnection with the supplementation between multiple energy resources and development of local consumption.

It provides a research foundation for a feasible roadmap of high clean energy penetration among ASEAN countries and for the region’s further cooperation on energy.