Asean power grid can generate new jobs and investments: Study

By being part of such a grid, each country’s GDP could grow by 0.8% to 4.6%: Expert

- Cheryl Tan Correspondent

The Asean power grid would have many benefits for countries in the region other than providing green electricity, including the creation of new jobs, reduced air pollution, and significant investments generated for the energy sector.

Speaking on the third day of the Singapore International Energy Week, Dr Daniel Gaspar, deputy director of Net Zero World Initiative, which is backed by the US Department of Energy, presented the findings of the US-Singapore feasibility study on regional energy connectivity. It concluded that such interconnection would have significant socio-economic benefits for the region.

These would include investments of US$2 billion (S$2.6 billion) annually for research and development, and US$1.4 trillion cumulatively to build electricity generation capacity.

By being part of an interconnected regional grid, each country's gross domestic product could also increase by about 0.8 per cent to 4.6 per cent, Dr Gaspar noted.

The US-Singapore study, which started in April 2023, examined the renewable energy landscape and existing grid infrastructure of Asean countries, along with the socio-economic impact of having regional connectivity.

The Asean power grid has been decades in the making, but really made progress with the 2022 launch of the Laos-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore electricity import pilot, which is a pathfinder project for the Asean grid.