Importing and exporting electricity

Slowly but surely, the ASEAN is moving towards deeper integration of national economies into a single, unified regional market. By next year, for instance, various national payment systems are expected to operate under a shared digital framework that allows the use of any ASEAN member's e-money anywhere in the region.

- MARVIN TORT

Further ahead, but already in motion, is the vision of an interconnected electricity grid that will allow one ASEAN member to sell or buy electricity from another. The idea is simple: surpluses can cross borders to strengthen energy security, not just domestically but regionally.

This is relatively straightforward for landlocked members such as Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar. The challenge is far greater for maritime states like the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei. These countries require underwater or subsea transmission lines, which are capital-intensive, technically complex, and geopolitically sensitive.

The target for a fully integrated ASEAN Power Grid (APG) is 2045. That may appear distant, but in energy infrastructure terms, 20 years is not far at all. Planning for underwater cables, nuclear plants, and major grid upgrades must begin now, because all take years to design, finance, and build.

The ASEAN Power Grid is no longer just a dream; it is already being built. Just this year the ASEAN launched the ASEAN Power Grid Financing Facility (APGF) with the support of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. The APGF is intended to finance feasibility studies, project preparation, and construction of APG-related projects, with a special focus on subsea interconnection.

By 2045, the ASEAN envisions a web of cross-border links enabling regional electricity trade. The Laos-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project (LTMS-PIP), launched in 2022, has already proven that multilateral electricity trade in the ASEAN is feasible.

This initiative allowed Singapore to import up to 100 megawatts (MW) of renewable hydropower from Laos through existing grid connections in Thailand and Malaysia. That imported electricity accounted for about 1.5% of Singapore’s peak demand in 2023.