The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (“ASEAN“) recognises the crucial role of energy in driving the region’s growth. This has led to two key priorities: (i) energy security – to ensure reliable and affordable energy access for its growing population and economies; and (ii) clean energy development – to create favourable conditions for ASEAN’s goals in clean energy development, including promoting energy transition by embracing renewable energy (“RE“) sources to combat climate change and foster sustainable development. ASEAN aims for a 23% RE share by 2025 in the ASEAN Energy Mix (or TPES: Total Primary Energy Supply), with discussions underway for an even more ambitious target soon.
Southeast Asia has abundant RE resources, but several hurdles remain, for instance, infrastructure (grids need modernisation to handle the variability of RE), the need for policy harmonisation (cross-border investment requires streamlined regulations and incentives), and community engagement (to ensure that local communities benefit from and participate in the transition).
Each ASEAN country faces its own particular set of challenges and constraints in achieving its net zero emissions goal due to a myriad of factors including its stage of economic development, resources (financial and non-financial) and geographical constraints. As such, the policies and focus of each country in the deployment and development of RE may differ.
In this Guide, we provide an overview of the RE landscape in the region and certain salient legal and regulatory issues affecting the development and deployment of RE in the following countries:
- Cambodia
- Indonesia
- Lao PDR
- Malaysia
- Myanmar
- Philippines
- Singapore
- Thailand
- Vietnam
The topics covered in each jurisdiction include:
- Main types of RE being developed
- Key regulators and stakeholders
- Regulatory framework and sectoral policies
- RE programmes
- Government incentives
- Key issues in RE sector
- Updates and developments
This publication is up to date as of January 2024.
For more information, click here to read the full Regional Guide.
