Southeast Asian countries eye regional power grid

A regional power grid for Southeast Asia has been proposed, with first trials set for 2022, as regional countries are speeding up their renewable energy transmission plans in efforts to meet climate change targets.
Southeast Asian countries eye regional power grid ảnh 1Illustrative image (Photo: Reuters)
Hanoi (VNA) – A regionalpower grid for Southeast Asia has been proposed, with first trials set for2022, as regional countries are speeding up their renewable energy transmissionplans in efforts to meet climate change targets.

Some ASEAN members are exploringcarbon capture storage (CCS) technology to reduce emissions. The bloc hasproposed that 23 percent of primary energy come from renewable sources by 2025,heard the Singapore International Energy Week conference this week.

The announcements came ahead of the UnitedNations COP26 climate summit starting in Glasgow, the UK, on October 31. Thisevent is considered one of the last opportunities for countries to announcefirm targets for cutting emissions this decade.

"ASEANare really looking at bringing in almost one-quarter of the energy fromrenewables by 2025,” Gauri Singh, Deputy Director-General of the InternationalRenewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said, describing this as a very ambitious goal.

She held that the international cooperationand regional cooperation are going to play a very important role.

The idea of an ASEAN grid, firstproposed in 1999 to enhance regional energy security, will now facilitaterenewable power transmission. 

ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoisaid ASEAN will need at least 367 billion USD in the next five years to financeits energy goals. It needs to improve its investment environment and alsoexpand beyond its current sources of finance to reach its energy transitiontargets./.
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