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#AEBF25 | Day 3 - Powering ASEAN Together: Europe’s Role in ASEAN’s Energy Transition

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This content discusses the crucial partnership between Europe and ASEAN to accelerate ASEAN's energy transition, focusing on the development of the ASEAN Power Grid (APG) as a key enabler for a cleaner, more secure, and sustainable energy future for the region.

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Morning everyone. Um good morning

excellencies, distinguished guests,

ladies and gentlemen. Um on behalf of

the EU Assean Business Council, a very

warm welcome to today's session,

powering ASEAN together, Europe's role

My name is Olria Sangstrand and I am an

advocacy manager at the EU Assean

Business Council and it is my pleasure

today to guide you um through the

session this morning as your MC and also

later on as a presenter.

Asan's energy transition stands at a

pivotal moment. As demand continues to

rise, the region is working to expand

renewable capacity, enhance energy

security, and build the frameworks

needed to reach net zero emissions in a

way that supports inclusive and

sustainable growth in the region.

Today's discussion looks at how ASEAN

and Europe can partner together

um to make that transition faster and

more effective. How we can bring

together policy, investment and

technology to deliver on shared climate

and development goals. It will explore

Europe's support for ASEAN both

institutionally through cooperation

mechanisms such as the EU's global

gateway and through the private sector

drawing on the investment, innovation

and technical expertise of European

companies that are active across the

region. We are honored to have with us

today his excellency Sujiro Sim,

ambassador of the European Union to

ASEAN and Mr. Petrus Osubs, director for

Asia in the Pacific at the directorate

general international partnerships at

the European Commission. Before we

begin, I would also like to express our

sincere appreciation to the European

Union Seaman's Energy and Standard

Charted for making this event possible.

To officially open today's session, it

is my privilege to invite his excellency

Sujiro Seim, Ambassador to of the

European Union to ASEAN to deliver his

Thank you very much,

distinguished delegates, all protocols

observed. As uh the ambassador of the

European Union to Azan, what I want to

do is uh remind you of the big picture.

We are at an Azan energy business forum.

So the big picture is the picture of the

relationship between Azan and the

European Union on business matters. And

what I want to say is that at a time

when some major players of uh the

international trade and investment

system decide to resort to unilateral

actions and you all know whom I refer to

regions like Azan and the European Union

has have to work closer together because

we still believe in multilateral

rules-based order and we still believe

in the merits of uh cooperation and not confrontation.

confrontation.

It is very clear uh from our trade and

investment relationship. We had a plan

and there is no reason to change this

plan because it is a good plan. Our plan

is to achieve a region-to-reion free

trade agreement in the long term and use

uh bilateral free trade agreements with

AAN member states as building blocks

towards this objective. While we also

focus on three issues of common interest

uh the digital transition uh economic

services and technologies and the

resilience of value chains commissioner

the European Commissioner for Trade was

in town a month ago for the Azan

Economic Minister's consultation with

the European Trade Commissioner and he

came with this very clear message that

the European Union is willing to respond

to the desire of Azan to engage more

with us and also that we are at a very

good juncture in our relation with the

recent conclusion of the comprehensive

economic partnership agreement with

Indonesia and the European Union that

gives the signal for ongoing

negotiations that it is possible to move

forward and make decisive progress

before the 50th anniversary of the Azan

European Union dialogue partnership in 2027.

2027.

This is the Azan energy business forum.

So my second point is to uh focus a

little bit on uh the energy cooperation

between Azan and the European Union.

This cooperation takes place in the

context of the annual high level

dialogue on energy between Azen and the

European Union. We meet at the senior

official level to discuss

uh recent trends on the uh energy market

both in the European Union and Azan and

to agree on a work program uh where we

see a mutual benefit in cooperation

between Azan and the European Union.

This work program comprises three

points. The first one is on energy

markets. The second one is on energy

transition and the last one is on energy

security. All these topics are highly

relevant of course for the European

Union where we had to diversify our

supply because of the illegal war of

aggression of Russia against Ukraine.

But the same concern exists in Azan

where they would like to diversify and

secure their supply. What I hear very

much in this high level dialogue on

energy between Azan and the European

Union is the expectation expressed by

our AEAN partners that the European

Union could assist in three specific

areas. First on technologies, second on

investment and three on sharing our

experience of managing our uh energy

market which is a very integrated energy market

market

with uh the European Union. We have the

tools and instruments to assist on these

three uh topics on uh technologies. We

will have to partner with you the

private sector because the technologies

will come from the private sector even

though we can finance uh long-term uh

public research uh projects especially

through Horizon Europe which is the

single best funded uh public research

project in the world. on uh investment.

We will have to work on uh public

private partnerships.

We will have private investment and we

will accompany and support this private

investment with the tools available to

us especially in the context of global

gateway. But Peter will uh share

everything you want to know about global

gateway because he's our expert on the

matter. And finally on u lessons learned

from our experience, the good lessons

because we have a very integrated market

and power grid, but also the the

challenges. You all saw the uh the

shutdown uh which happened in some parts

of Europe because of uh some uh external

interference. Uh I think we have to

continue the dialogue. Uh in conclusion,

I would like to uh add my thanks to uh

the organizers of uh this particular

parallel session, those who made it

possible, the European Union, Azan

Business Council, our friends at the

Azan Center for Energy and at the AAN

Secretariat as well. I wish you a

fruitful discussion. You're not so many

in the room, so take it as an

opportunity to do engage directly with

Thank you very much, your excellency,

for those thoughtful and forward-looking

remarks and for your continued

leadership um in strengthening ASEAN EU

cooperation on sustainable energy and connectivity.

I now have the pleasure of delivering

the presentation which also marks the

official launch of the EU Assean

Business Council's latest policy report

This report titled powering ASEAN's net

zero future accelerating the energy

transition through the ASEAN power grid

was developed together with our member

companies and it examines what is needed

to turn the ASEAN power grid from vision

to reality driving regional integration

and accelerating ASEAN shift towards

Allow me to briefly outline my

presentation today. I'll begin with an

overview of ASEAN's current energy

landscape as well as the ASEAN power

grid and the main challenges to its

implementation. I will then highlight

three key recommendations from our

report on how to accelerate development

through stronger regulation, better

infrastructure, and improved financing

mechanisms. And finally, I'll conclude

by reflecting on the role of the private

sector in turning these ideas into

action and supporting ASEAN's clean

energy pathway.

Before we move into the findings, I'm

very pleased to officially present to

you our report powering ASEAN's net zero

future. And you can download a digital

copy of this report directly by scanning

the QR code on the screen or later as

well through the EU Assean Business

Let's start um with where where we are

at today. Across ASEAN, energy demand is

rising faster than almost anywhere else

in the world, driven by rapid

industrialization, urbanization, and a

growing middle class. Electricity demand

alone is expected to grow by about 4%

each year until 2035,

accelerating as economies digitalize and

expand manufacturing.

Today, fossil fuels still account for

roughly 80% of Assean's energy supply

with coal providing nearly half of all

power generation. This dependence on

fossil fuels comes at a cost. By 2050,

ASEAN's annual oil import bill could

rise by around 50% to over 200 billion

US, deepening exposure to price

volatility and supply chain risks.

Encouragingly, ASEAN member states have

made major strides in adding renewable

capacity. Renewables already account for

roughly 32% of installed generation

capacity, close to the ASEAN target of

35% by 2025.

However, this increase in renewable

capacity has not yet translated into a

corresponding increase in renewable

power generation. As you can see in the

graph on the slide, renewable share in

generation is only around half of the

total installed capacity. This is due to

grid bottlenecks, curtailment and lack

of storage and flexibility.

Investment patterns in the region tell a

similar story. ASEAN attracted around 47

million US dollars in clean energy

investment in 2025 alone with three

quarters of this coming from the private

sector. Yet that's only 2% of global

clean energy investment. Despite ASEAN

representing almost 9% of the world's population,

population,

high financing costs, policy

uncertainty, and limited project

pipelines continue to hold back

progress. To truly close this gap, ASA

needs a regional approach that connects

markets, enables efficient power flows,

and balances renewable resources across borders.

borders.

The ASEAN power grid or APG is one of

the region's most strategic pathways to

enable cleaner, more secure and

affordable power across the region.

First endorsed in 1997 under ASEAN's

vision 2020, the APG was designed to

link national grids and enable crossber

electricity trade. Since then, it has

evolved from a series of bilateral links

into a long-term plan for regional

integration by 2045.

Looking ahead, the AS3 master plan

identifies 18 priority interconnections

to be completed by 2040, forming the

backbone bone of the regional grid.

So the rationale for the ASEAN power

grid is clear. It will unlock Assean's

diverse renewable resources, allowing

the region to balance supply and demand

more efficiently across countries. It

will lower overall system costs by up to

12% through shared reserves and

coordinated investments. And it will

strengthen energy security and

resilience, reducing fossil fuel

dependence and exposure to global price volatility.

While the strategic case for the ASEAN

power grid is clear, progress has been

slowed by three interconnected

challenges. First is regulatory and

market fragmentation.

Countries in the region operate with

different grid codes, technical

standards, and dispatch rules, making

crossber integration complex.

Unclear wheeling and settlement

frameworks raise transaction cost, while

fossil fuel subsidies continue to

distort markets. Political sensitivities

around energy sovereignty and pricing

also make it harder to move from

bilateral links to a fully regional

integrated market.

Second, infrastructure and system

integration gaps persist. Although

several interconnections exist, transfer

capacity remains limited and project

permitting can be slow and inconsistent.

Technical interoperability issues also

persist and grid development has not

always kept pace with renewable buildout.

buildout.

And third, there continue to be

financing and investment barriers. The

cost of capital remains high and too few

bankable projects are ready for

financing. The absence of effective

de-risking tools and fragmented public

private responsibilities make it

difficult to attract large-scale grid

investment. To overcome these

challenges, our report sets out three

recommendations on regulation,

infrastructure and finance.

So first and the most foundational step

um we argue for building an enabling

regulatory environment. A clear aligned

and predictable regulatory framework

across the region is the cornerstone of

a functioning regional power market and

of the ASEAN power grid. That means

first of all harmonizing grid codes and

trading rules so that power can move

freely and safely between countries.

Second, governments need to clarify

wheeling and settlement frameworks or

the rules on how that determine how

electricity flows are priced, accounted

for, and paid.

Third, ASEAN should strengthen regional

coordination mechanisms, particularly

the institutions that can oversee system

planning, data exchange, and market

development. And finally, reforming

price signals, for example, through

gradually phasing out fossil fuel

subsidies are crucial to level the

Our second recommendation focuses on

developing the physical and digital

infrastructure for the ASEAN power grid.

First, the region needs to invest in

regional data sharing and forecasting

systems such as common data platforms

that can give grid operators realtime

visibility of power flows and renewable

energy generation.

Second, governments should fast track um

the interconnection projects identified

under the AS3 study and operational the

propo operationalized the proposed ASEAN

power grid financing facility.

Third, the report recommends

prioritizing near-term short to medium

distance interconnection expansion while

reserving scarce and costly long

distance and subc cable capacity for

strategically important links.

Fourth, we call for the creation of

clear frameworks for storage and

flexibility resources such as batteries

and demand response systems.

And fifth, it will be critical to

coordinate regional planning for

renewable use and exports, ensuring that

the new renewable capacity is developed

in step with grid connections and demand

centers. And finally, streamlining

permitting and land acquisition

processes can also dramatically shorten

project timelines and reduce uncertainty

Our third recommendation focuses on

unlocking financing and investment. The

key is to make grid and renewable energy

investments variable, predictable and

attractive for both domestic and

international financiers.

First, ASEAN governments and regional

institutions should publish transparent

and standardized project pipelines which

would give investors visibility on

upcoming interconnection and grid

projects helping them to plan ahead and

mobilize finance more efficiently.

Second, there's a need to expand blended

finance and risk sharing mechanisms

such sorry. Additionally, the proposed

ASEAN power grid financing facility

could also play a central role in this

combining public, private and

development finance to bring large-scale

projects to life. Third, ASEAN should

develop regional, public, private

partnership models for interconnections.

Standardizing contract templates, tariff

structures, and procurement processes

across markets will help reduce

transaction costs and build investor confidence.

confidence.

These recommendations have largely been

targeted to what governments and what

regional institutions can do. But real

progress will also depend on how

effectively the public and private

sectors collaborate and work together in

implementing these. This brings me to

the final part of this presentation. The

role of the private sector.

The private sector has a crucial role to

play in accelerating Asan's energy

transition. First, companies can anchor

demand through clean power procurement.

Corporate renewable energy commitments

through mechanisms such as power

purchase agreements help build

predictable demand that drives

investment in generation and

transmission. Second, businesses can

mobilize green and blended finance

working handinhand with government

development banks and investors to

channel capital toward high impact

projects. Third, the private sector can

co-invest directly in grid

infrastructure and storage particularly

where industrial users or energy

development can share costs and risks.

Fourth, the companies can active around

the world bring deep technological and

expertise and innovation knowhow from

smart grids and digitalization to

advanced storage and hydrogen ready

systems. And finally, the private sector

can share valuable market integration

and regulatory experience, building on

lessons from Europe's own internal

energy market and adapting them to

So in conclusion, ASEAN's energy

transition will succeed only through

deeper regional cooperation and strong

public private partnerships. The Assean

power grid offers a pathway to achieve

both connecting markets, sharing

resources, and building a cleaner, more

resilient energy future for the region.

And hopefully our recommendations can be

useful in making this a reality.

Now to deepen this conversation, we'll

move straight into our panel discussion

where we'll hear insights from both

policy makers and the private sector on

how Europe and ASEAN can work together

to power this energy transition. So for

this, it's my honor to invite our

distinguished panelists to join me on

the stage here. Mr. Petus, director for

Asia and Pacific at the director general

for international partnerships.

Mr. Tong Fong, Senior Officer, Assean

Plan of Action for Energy Corporation at

the Assean Center for Energy.

Mr. Dono Donni Dono Seutro, CEO

Indonesia at Standard Chartered Bank,

and Mr. Aley Muhammad, managing director

Malaysia of Seaman's Energy, and also

our moderator, Mr. Chris Humphrey,

executive director of the Assean EU business.

business.

>> Thank you, Ora.

Thank you uh gentlemen for joining us.

Sorry it's an all male panel is anyway

um we're going to hand through some

ideas about how Europe can work with

ASEAN to help develop its energy

transition and the APG itself. Dong,

thank you for stepping in at the last

minute replacing your colleague Benny.

He was called away. Um and I will

commence with you if you don't mind. um

ASEAN in general and the member states

has set some very ambitious targets to

get for um renewable energy and energy

transition. Um what do you see as the

top priorities to try and accelerate the

region's transition and where do you see

the uh the biggest challenges ahead?

>> Yeah. Um firstly thank you very much uh

for for uh having me in this session and

and um greetings to all of the audience

over here especially to our ambassador

and uh the extent speakers over here. Um

yeah so um you right rightly mentioned

uh we we have been uh setting a very

ambitious target for our region um on

the 16 um which is yesterday where we

have the uh uh 43rd RMM uh where we

endorse uh regional target uh for the

next 5 years together with our new uh

plan of action for energy cooperation uh

26 to 2030. We set ourself uh the target

of 30% of the renewable energy um in the

total primary energy supply which is uh

step up from what we set ourself during

this uh uh particular period. Um we see

there a lot of um different action that

we need to take from the renewable

energy uh development side as well as

from the APG and um those two alone are

coming um like a big topic themselves.

So maybe I I can try to um um maybe uh

highlight a few um direction that we

have. Um maybe going first to the topic

of um the year which is APG. Um everyone

is talking about APG. Um even some of

our partner that never u work with APG

before and they starting to ask us uh by

the way how about the APG progress

right? Um we are happy to uh to announce

that um starting from um today we are

going to assume a bit more um uh

responsibility into the IPG of the

region we're going to be the IPG uh secretariat

secretariat

um going to u spearhead a lot of

challenges that being mentioned in in

the previous slide. We're talking about

uh development of the market. We're

talking about infrastructure also on the

financing. So on on those three key

areas we're going to lead the um

discussion implementation with different

partners be be that the uh dialogue

partner international organization or

even from the private sector. Um on the

renewable energy side um we have uh

completed and going to launch today um

what we call the uh renewable energy

long-term road map which is the outlook

that uh we just finished um and being

endorsed by the minister in which we uh

we charted out the different scenario on

how the region going to integrate the

renewable energy inside um uh so in the

each scenario there there's a common

theme that we cannot do just renewable

energy alone we have to do it together

with the IPG and um there there will be

a different level of integration between

the two and also the level of uh

development of the IPG in order to bring

out the the the most impact uh of the

renewable energy into the into the region

region

>> and do you want Europe's help sorry

sorry

I won't put you on the spot. Petrus,

you're you're visiting here from

Brussels. You're looking after

international partnerships uh for Asia

for the commission. Perhaps you can just

give us a a quick overview about how

important ASEAN's energy transition is

to the EU's broader partnership and

maybe extend that look about how the EU

can best support ASEAN going forward.

Chris, first of all, thank you very much

for organizing this session and uh

associating uh us with with the work. Um

first of all, we see strong political will

will

the Azan

um to move forward with the Azan power

grid APG. Um and therefore I think it is

also in our interests and I will explain

why to come up and support as much as we

can Azan in in uh in those uh in in

efforts uh undertaken in the regional

level. First of all, because of very

simple reason that our strategy um

partnership strategy, global gateway

strategy goes hand in hand um and

supports exactly the same priorities

what um Azan is sitting uh is is putting

forward from their side. Therefore, it's

a good match what uh Azan is looking

forward to and what the global gateway

uh we can bring and and uh and do in the

region. That is one. Secondly,

um as already explained,

APG will go hand in hand

with the green energy transition and

that is also let's say very much the DNA

of the EU and a strong um element of the

global gateway as well. So that is

another element why APG is um uh very

interesting for us, very interesting for

European support and um we are looking

forward to bring in different ways how

we can we can do it what we can do physically

physically

and I would like to to mention at least

four points. First of all, um knowledge

um as already underlined by by Sujiro at

the opening, we have in Europe

experience of at least three decades

of uh integrating European energy

market. Uh it was not happening

overnight. It happened rather over long

time. It was increased growing

gradually. It has different regions but

still it is integrated. So therefore we

have a knowledge what we are ready to

share and I think uh if our AAN partners

are are looking for that knowledge we

are ready to to serve uh and ready to to

uh be good partners in in sharing the

knowledge. That is one. Secondly, as we

built the this um integration in the EU,

of course, we have also the technology.

We we know that technology will be

required and there is a lot of

technology of different types which

might be useful once the APG is starting

to to to step up. That is that is the

second second point. Thirdly,

it goes together the experience

good and bad. And I think for friends,

it's good to to share good and bad

experiences. And last but not least,

none of that is coming um free of

charge. It will be investments what will

be required. And there again the EU is

ready to to explore all the instruments

we have in order to support u Azan

efforts and uh and then moving forward

with the integration of the APG. We we

done already the first steps in order to

to say that this is not just a lip

service. Um last week we hosted the

global gateway forum in Brussels where

uh European development banks uh

together with Asia Development Bank

signed the declaration of intent um on

support to the APG. So yes, it is a

small step but it is demonstrating our

uh interest our readiness to work very

very closely uh with uh ADB who will be

in the leading role for uh let's say

putting together um the uh

implementation and financial plans for

for different projects. This is not all.

Um we are looking forward to to support

ACE as as much as we can. Uh secondly uh

it was also referred in the in the presentation

presentation

there will be a need for uh let's say

support to make the projects bankable

and um there again uh we would be ready

to uh to support that process making

sure that projects are bankable and then

of course we are ready to step in also

with the financial tools uh the risking

as much as uh we can and move forward

with the with with the implementation.

Um it will take time.

Um it's not going to happen overnight

but with existing um political will with

the targets set in the region I think uh

we we see the prospects of moving

forward. And last point is um that I

think by political will and our interest

from the European Commission um I think

we also need to pass the message to

European business that uh Azan power

grids is moving forward and more

European companies also should see the

opportunities and come to the region and

support the efforts. Thank you.

>> Thank you. So knowledge, technology,

experience, money and European businesses.

businesses.

Come to the money in a bit. We'll go to

the European business part as I'm coming

to you. You're working for a large

German energy firm, significant presence

in the region. Ky you can just uh give

us your view about um what lessons

Europe can provide to ASEAN in terms of

renewables and grids and the technology

and the regulatory point of view and

what sort of things Seamans is looking

for to play a greater role. Uh thanks

Chris for the question and thanks uh

UABC for coordinating this energy is is

is happy to partner and and this to be

helped the sites of uh ABF and obviously

if you look at ASEAN in general and our

our role continuous role have been

playing in this part of the world and

it's it's one of the key region it's not

just for the sake of the the growth you

know 4.7 to 5% projected growth of the

region in comparison to you know 2.93ish

globally and this obviously you an

interesting um playground for for us and

and what's interesting is you know aside

from looking at these opportunities

across this 700 million people 10

countries as um the complexity of doing

business here which correlates to the

opportunities is is huge and uh we we

are looking at the region in entirely

from from a personalization of approach

because it's never a transactional way

of of doing things. You know, if I can

just set the stage on our approach on

how uh we bring the best of the

technologies, best of the lessons

learned from from EU and other parts of

the world to to to

uh to benefit ASEAN

and if I can go specifically within the

sphere of uh energy requirements and

energy transitions all the countries

within ASEAN's various in terms of the

maturity in terms of the interpretation

of uh energy transition

Hence uh it's it's never a cookie cutter

approach in trying to provide a

solution. um transitional fuels are

being uh defined differently in each

countries, different gener generational

mix and obviously this the past few days

and past few months and even today we're

talking a lot about uh the role of APG

in enabling some of some of this um

despite having a lot of lesson learned

from a technological perspective in in

EU in other parts of the world. So it's

never about having um um uh a copycat in

terms of you know what had happened in

you and bringing it down here. Our

approach has always been personalized

looking at the needs and partnering uh

hand inhand with this country. I'll just

give a quick example without going to

every countries in AEAN. Malaysia alone

is a tri regulatory regime between uh

Peninsula Sabah and Sraawa which varies

in terms of its uh readiness is is uh it

is grid operations as generation um it

fuel mix uh and and various different uh

determinance that uh from a regulatory

perspective that alone you know provides

uh the complexity and opportunities for

others and we look at uh examples from

various part of the world in particular

use similar markets that we can leverage

in terms of uh the technologies that can

be deployed. Um probably I pause there

and happy to give you know some specific

examples later.

>> Thank you. Fact Donnie we'll come to

you. You're a man with the money.

>> Uh yes I work for the man with the money.

>> You've also been involved in things like

jetp projects here in Southeast Asia as

well. as you can just give us your

perspective about the opportunities you

see as a private financing institution

in helping ASEM with its energy

transition. Uh thanks Chris and uh first

of all thank you for UABC for organizing

this when you talk about opportunity uh

around sustainability energy transition

in Southeast Asia let me give you

actually this you know it's very

difficult to find the words actually but

it's really abundant and it's not just

for financials but also for project

developers for other associated sort of

supply chain industries just com look at

the world of the landscape of the world

of uh trade and investment right now

ASEAN is a bright spot 5% GDP gross

minimum average 700 million people young

population and so on. Combine that with

the impact of climate change where

Assean countries actually are among the

heavily impacted by climate change

because of that the need actually to uh

achieve net zero or decarbonize uh or

pursue decarbonization journey is also

the biggest. Not to mention when you

talk about uh uh climate adaptation

finance which means it's about now from

giant seaw wall to smart farming and

others. So let's just highlight there's

a lot of numbers BCGs McKenzie others

including from ours as well but it's in

the trillions of dollars. So uh from our

assessment actually $1.5 trillion dollar

cumulative is needed by ASEAN to

decarbonize by 2030. So that presents

significant opportunities across uh

power generation on uh renewable power

generations across ASEAN. You got ADG

actually that we were just been talking

about uh that would form part of that.

Uh other than that actually we see

carbon market. Carbon market is one of

the biggest uh uh potential of Southeast

Asia that can worth about 600 to 800

billion dollars up to 2030. Indonesia

just opened up the whole reform of the

uh regulation. So it's open for business

essentially now it's 15% actually of

total world reserve. So that's really

quite big now not to mention other uh

blue economy and blue carbon potential

like seaweed there's a lot of coastal

area across Southeast Asia. So in a

nutshell it is heavy with opportunity.

In the previous talk we were also

talking about that ASEAN uh is dominated

is a coal dominated power system

essentially the transition from coal

into renewable is one of the steepest if

you look at any regions in the world to

be quite honest. Uh and again there in

lies the opportunity to transition. We

were debating between whether is the

flexi coal flex that a coal fire power

plant actually would have the

flexibility for coal co-firing with

biomass or others and so on you know

efficiencies versus early retirement.

But the point of the matter is whichever

it is it presents opportunities for

investments. uh of course renewable

power generation APG the interconnectors

actually will present the wider part the

seammens of the world actually and other

European contractors actually to to

build further and we got a couple of

success you mentioned about JP just

lastly from me uh maybe actually I would

slightly disagree actually with the

presentation from the lady over there

about the lack of the risking mechanism

on finance I think the risking me is

there but you are absolutely correct uh

what we need is PPP, blended finance. No

doubt the APG is really great because it

put a more structured systematic

collaboration between the public and the

private sector so that in the disking

actually the mechanism are there but we

just need to sit down together work on

every single project. I mean can we can

have a template to see how to make uh

APG projects bankable but it's all there

but of course I keep saying actually my

colleagues from MSBC actually have heard

this before there are three things in

visibility technical

institutional and financial now these

two technical is all the technicalities

actually of the you know contractors and

project developer the second part is

institutional meaning actually what you

said about uh harmonizing ization of

standards you know trading mechanism um

uh uh interoperability of regulations

and so on and so forth that needs to be

put in place uh first then the financing

actually becomes really I wouldn't say

quite easy but very

to particularly together with the MDBs

DFI's ECAS we have done that in Lao and

this is about 10 years ago in Lao uh we

structured a financing one uh $4 billion

for 1 gawatt hydro projects to be sold

with transmission all the way from Lao

to Thailand. Now the offtaker is two

parts uh the Thai um electricity

generating authority of Thailand EGAT

and the um uh the Lao uh electricity law

uh agency. The problem is actually of

course Thailand is a investment grade

Lao is sub investment grade. So one is

bankable the PPA the other one not

bankable. So you need actually to put in

a lot more others. So this is a super

collaborative because we got ATP World

Bank there providing political

guarantee. You got all the you know sort

of Nordic ECAs you know uh coming in

actually with all part guarantees part

sort of uh first loss you know it's

quite complex but it's doable and this

is already 10 years ago I mean it's not

nothing new nothing new uh so we can do

that but of course it requires a lot of

political will and it's not as easy as

it says because the government actually

would have to align the regulation I

think to me that's the big part of APG

that is uh needed actually to be

accelerated ated for the government

actually collectively to agree on the

framework that would allow uh investment

projects to be bankable and investment

>> so not a lack of money it's a lack of

bankability so we need to address the

institutional and the technical side of

life first

>> indeed the money is there you would

agree as well right

>> so the the two of us actually the

financials actually agree that money is

not a problem actually Is there yeah to

I come to you then. How do we address

the the institutional and the technical

side of life? How is ACE working in

member states to try and make sure we

end up with projects to support the APG

that are bankable?

>> Yeah. Um thank you for your question. Um

so yeah I was in your previous uh uh uh

session and yeah it's the second time

that I I heard from you that financial

are there and and the risking mechanism

are there. So it's very reassuring for

me but I need to go out and make sure

that everyone also have the same feeling

on this. Um so we have uh quite a number

of different activities. Um you know

part of our our stakeholders uh we

working with uh the government side the

ministry we're working with the utility

side we're working with also the

operator u regulator to some extent. So

we do have a platform to convene um

those stakeholders um into the

conversation um let's say we have a

regular meeting with them um decide on

the topic that we want to uh have as a

capacity building for example um at the

higher level uh we have what we call the

ASEAN interconnection master plan study

where um we we just uh finished the

latest uh lack of um uh studies in which

um the studies address exactly the the

only of the area that we are talking

about particularly on the technical side

how to uh harmonize all of the different

uh variety of uh grid code um and then

when when it coming to the trading what

would be uh some of the let's say um

basic um mechanism that we can work

together um the the level of willing

charge for example or how to provide

provide the um access uh for the third

party. Um so those are the the own of

the conversation that we have. Um what

we are doing uh we always keep in touch

with our stakeholders u make sure that

only of the latest development from our

side as well as from the other side. uh

our stakeholder would be own be communicated

communicated

um in our later role that I mentioned

being the the APG secretariat we would

be not only uh the secretarial of the

APG uh governing council um um which is

what we are doing now but we will do

that also for um other stakeholders

including um yeah which is a group of

the uh uh regulator later hapa

and and we will channel all of the

conversation into one place and uh on

top of that um probably you already

aware that uh we have also um just just

a few days ago the launch of the APG

financing with the uh support from the

ADB World Bank of course with uh ACE and

uh ASC uh the other members in that

working group where we would try to

address the question on the financing um

and that is not the only way uh to

channel the financing uh into the

region. There is just one way and it

happen to be supported by both ADB and

World Bank. Um we will lead later on uh

development of the the uh operation of

that group how we going to approve on

the project itself the kind of project

uh to make sure that it will align uh

with our mapping of the APG and align

with also the the interest and the um

all of the concern uh raised by our uh

member state

>> and you're sure you can get the

institutional arrangements between the

member states lined as well.

>> Um, looking at this year, um, another

thing that we haven't mentioned is, uh,

by the end of this year, we are

expecting to sign what we call the

enhanced memorandum of understanding,

uh, for the APG among all of the

countries over here. Um, yeah, so far I

think we already have uh, uh, the very

positive respond and and uh, uh,

signature from half of them. So, um,

definitely we will get it done. Um so

that will help us with the political

will and that is I would say one of the

biggest step that we need to uh you know

uh uh take

um so political political will and then

we go into uh institutional

technical and then of course financing

where we we have start to talk to uh

people with money.

>> Yeah. you're surrounded by people with money.

money.

>> Chris, if I may chip in a minute, it's

it's really enlightening to know that,

you know, from from a policy standpoint,

this is, you know, the harmonization is

in place. You know, there's there's

strong willingness from financing

standpoint as well because this is a

20-year-old initiative that, you know, a

lot of us in this room has been hearing.

But I think this is where from a

technology standpoint we've been waiting

for this to be finalized because you

know you talk about the backbone on the

implementation of EPG HVDC a submarine

the materials it's not something they

can walk next door once it's finalized

and buy on the spot and there serious

material issue because energy trilma has

become energy quiry lema now where the

fourth element is supply chain and

materials so I think the faster this

could be sorted out the faster that and

for us for an technology enabling

standpoint we want work closely with uh

the Assean countries to ensure that uh

fasttracking some of this enable

enablement of the technology and we are

aware that there's some form of

localization being set forth you know

ASEAN for ASEAN that could help you know

enable this much faster

>> and you're willing to step up I mean

Seammens has a very serious interest in

in working with the region on its energy development

development >> yes

global gateway

um it's not just money though there is

money within global gateway but it's

also about capacity building and

knowledge sharing can you just give us

an oversight of how you see global

gateway playing a role with ASEAN on its

energy transition journey and then we'll

come back to the financial part of it

>> yes um as as you said Chris global

gateway is not just uh money it is not

just billions sitting somewhere and then

allocated uh for for one or the other

purpose u it is the concept which uh

uses the number and that is 360°

meaning that it is having accompanying

measures what needs to be implemented

what needs to be transferred what needs

to be um

moved forward in order investments in

order concrete projects moving forward

and that is let's say one part of the

DNA of the global gateway that we have

those tools. We have those instruments

uh in our hands 360°

how to support uh any of our uh partners

in this case Azan more closely uh AAN

center of energy in order to implement

and move forward with uh with

Azan power grid. So all of that is is in

our hands and um as already alluded from

one side we have experience in Europe

but at the same time there is also

experience in the region already. Um so

therefore it's it's it's indeed doable.

All of those elements are are are are are

are

there. Of course, translating political

will into very technical

implementation is something uh very

challenging but not something what we

can't overdo over overcome. Um second point,

point,

the scale of the APG is huge. It's uh it

would be very naive to think that uh it

is uh something for the uh next next

year and and we will we will already uh

completed. Um in my opinion it will be

step by step project by project

gradually moving forward and implementing.

implementing.

Um but from our perspective we are

looking for the pipeline

and pipeline might look for might look

in different ways. Either this is the

sketchy pipeline

indicating what what is here and there

and what needs to be done. uh either

this is uh already the transmission

lines, interconnectors or renewable

energy what needs to be uh put in place

and fed until the let's say uh the the

pipeline of bankable projects all

elements we need to to put in place

as already alluded private money I think

is there to help because some of the

projects in APG will be purely bankable

from the they want and they could go

forwards but at the same time there will

be other type of the projects which will

require development money coming in it

will require degree of concessionality

to be associated with this and uh I'm

sure Chris you will ask how many

hundreds or thousands or billions the EU

is ready to put into it um I don't want

to play with a number because it might

be quite misleading. The fact is that we

would like to see the pipeline and we

would like to move forwards project by

project but what's my main message is we

are ready to do that but what we need is

the pipeline. We need to see how the

things are moving forwards and how we

work with individual governments in the

region and how we work with the

institutions as well as the private

banking and the private sector. It is a

very complex setting but I reassure you

that not only private money is there but

also development and institutional money

is there to support the the way forward.

>> If I may just jump in a little bit on on

on your comments. We we do actually have

um what we call the a project profile of

uh the possible uh APG interconnection

in the region. Um where it address um

the information that you you mentioned

um you know like uh the the side the

condition of the site um uh condition of

the interconnection for example in case

there already something existing there.

Um and then uh on top of that we have

the master plan study where it will also

project a very very high level um maybe

you you can recone in a lot of

conversation we're talking about the

potential 18 connection interconnection

and and around half of that uh being

implemented but I I believe with you

know our our uh commencing of the

regular updating of that master study we

will expand the list not only the 18 but

it could go up into the bigger number uh

together also with the uh project profiling.

profiling.

um at at this particular stage um since

we we have u in hand the list of 18 I

think a lot of conversation happening

around those 18 u nine essentially the

the one that uh haven't really got any

progress and uh what we do at the moment

is also talking with different partners

try to get a very very first step done

which is the feasibility studies um and

we we want to align and also our finding

our study with the uh investment grade

so that it can be continue after that

and and so far um you know the the

support are very positive I I would say

um there quite a lot of interest from

our partner on supporting um us in to do

that exercise um we have been talking

also with uh number of different assean

country and and they also very open to

this they are very very happy to hear

especially that ACE will be the one that

facilitate those conversation. Yeah. So,

uh maybe some information that I could

share to you.

>> Don't know. I am going to come to you.

>> Yeah. Okay. >> Okay.

>> Okay.

>> I want you I think you want to add on

that. I also going to ask you about the

importance of things like credit

guarantee funding from projects like

global gateway and how that will help

with financing going forward. Uh

>> yes. Uh of course actually the the

global EU global gateway has been

benefit uh has been benefiting ASEAN in

a number of respects in Lao and Thailand

you know that uh capacity building in

terms of the way actually that they

managed the whole sort of energy efficiencies

efficiencies

uh jetps actually Vietnam, Indonesia in

fact you know we applauded Germany for

taking over from the US when the US uh

stepped down actually from JPE Indonesia

and now actually it has come to fruition

because we've done the uh dispersement

finally after three years, two and a

half years, right? You know, Vietnam

hopefully will follow suit actually. So,

uh, thanks for that. I mean, and it is

very important actually the guarantees

actually that being given in projects

across Southeast Asia uh on APG. I

wanted to just add one other thing

actually to uh my colleague from ACE. It

is imperative notwithstanding that we

talked the money is there, the risking

mechanism is there. Of course actually

there are works needed actually to align

harmonize standardize you know between

governments in terms of regulation

trading mechanism and so on and so

forth. But a strong suggestion from uh

our side both the private and the public

sector financing I would imagine

together is that for APG while the

momentum is there and we were talking

about it at the launch of APG financing

initiative two days ago. uh please do uh

put forward projects which are

lowhanging fruits to keep the momentum

going because it cannot be on years and

years and years of discussion and talk

there has to be actual projects and

there are a number of low hanging fruit

projects example we given connectivity

between Sumatra and uh Singapore right

now energy market authority Singapore

has given seven contracts uh as part of

Singapore agree 2030 30 uh and right now

apart from the Indonesia side it hasn't

really been sorted from the export

license side of things of the

government. I think this is something

actually that ACE or APG initiative

actually can unlock because the mandate

has been given feasibility study has

been conducted financing has been

structured is just a go you know with

the subscri

islands and that will become the

backbone connectivity of the there's a

number of connectivities right actually

of the project that would be our strong

suggestion some of the lowhanging fruits

you know make it happen make it a

project you and is also demonstrable

actually to others that the momentum is

really building. So I think just to

highlight that it's very important for

ACE to do that. So it doesn't become

like jetp three years uh people almost

given up but thanks to Germany to

finally made the final push for

Indonesia. Vietnam is still awaiting for

disbbursement uh after quite some time

right Indonesia had broken ground if you

will finally uh and we were part of that

together with DEG and Propakaco so

really European uh consortium actually

for that that break the the ground

actually for JP Indonesia um so that's

>> excellent as I'll come to you as an

energy company technology provider

uh if the money is there, if the

programs are there, what's holding back

on getting greater progress going

forward and which areas would a company

like Seamans like to see the region do

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YouTube Transcript:#AEBF25 | Day 3 - Powering ASEAN Together: Europe’s Role in ASEAN’s Energy Transition