Southeast Asia eyes interconnected grid as economies pursue shared sustainability goals

Chinese energy companies are poised to play a crucial role in Southeast Asia's ambitious green transition and regional power grid integration, leveraging their technological dominance to unlock major market opportunities, a senior Singaporean official said.

"Greater regional connectivity can improve resilience, efficiency and energy security outcomes," said Puah Kok Keong, chief executive of the Energy Market Authority of Singapore, during a recently held seminar co-hosted by China Southern Power Grid. "A more integrated regional energy system would allow economies to diversify energy sources, reduce vulnerabilities and draw on mutual support from neighbors."

Grid integration is becoming increasingly vital as Singapore and its neighbors race to meet their decarbonization goals. Currently relying on natural gas for about 95 percent of its power generation, the land-scarce city-state is accelerating efforts to diversify its energy mix, he said.

"Singapore has set a target of importing up to 6 gigawatts of low-carbon electricity by 2035, an objective that necessitates stronger regional interconnections and high-voltage direct current links," Puah said.

This regional shift is occurring against the backdrop of a technological revolution that is rapidly reshaping global power consumption.

"As artificial intelligence and digitalization are becoming key drivers of electricity demand growth across Asia, energy cooperation will increasingly need to focus on the infrastructure required to support it, including smarter and more resilient power grids, energy storage systems and low-carbon generation," he added.

Industry experts believe such efforts are creating immense opportunities for Chinese enterprises.

Possessing world-leading expertise in deploying solar power, smart-grid solutions and energy storage systems, China has scaled up renewable energy faster than almost any country in the world, said Lin Boqiang, head of the China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy at Xiamen University.

China's record-breaking progress — adding over 430 GW of new wind and solar capacity in the past year alone — is actively shaping the global energy transition, he said.

Puah said Singapore and China have complementary strengths. While China has strong capabilities in technology, manufacturing and deployment, Singapore contributes strengths in finance, connectivity and regional project development.

As Southeast Asia's energy demand continues to grow, he believes there will be increasing opportunities for collaboration in areas such as clean energy infrastructure, energy storage, digital energy solutions and regional connectivity.

At the regional level, Singapore has been actively working to advance cross-border energy cooperation. A pioneering multilateral project is already transmitting up to 100 megawatts of hydropower from Laos to Singapore via Thailand and Malaysia using existing interconnectors.

While a fully integrated regional power market may still be years away, these early efforts are laying the groundwork for a broader vision.

"Integration will take time and require coordination across areas such as technical standards, financing and regulatory frameworks," Puah said. "In ASEAN, a regional power market may still be some time away, but efforts are underway to strengthen bilateral interconnections and subregional multilateral interconnections. These serve as the foundations for ASEAN to realize the ASEAN Power Grid by 2045."

To transform these regional blueprints into reality, financing and policy coordination are just as critical as technological deployment. As a leading international financial center, Singapore acts as a convening hub to connect capital with bankable infrastructure projects.

"The scale of investment needed across infrastructure, grids, clean technologies and system resilience will require strong regional collaboration," Puah said.

He added that innovative mechanisms, such as credible cross-border renewable energy certificates, play an important role in enhancing the bankability of these massive renewable energy projects and boosting investor confidence.

Looking 10 to 15 years ahead, Puah expects the Asia-Pacific region to become far more interconnected as economies pursue shared sustainability goals. Through deepening partnerships, complementary alliances with Chinese technological leaders and a unified vision for a cross-border power network, Southeast Asia is steadily building a resilient, future-ready energy ecosystem.