ASEAN Advances Energy Security as Experts Urge Faster Clean Energy Shift

ASEAN energy ministers ended their annual meeting in Manila on Friday with new commitments on regional power trade, data transparency and oil security. But energy experts said the measures still fall short of the speed needed after a year of fuel price shocks.

“Every megawatt we produce with resources found locally is one less megawatt exposed to a shock generated abroad,” said Monalisa Dimalanta, former Chairperson of the Philippines’ Energy Regulatory Commission.

As the 44th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) closed, Philippine Energy Secretary Sharon Garin told reporters that ministers had reached consensus on an enhanced memorandum of understanding for the ASEAN Power Grid, with Indonesia’s signature still pending.

The ministers’ joint statement, released Oct. 8, also committed ASEAN to publishing a regional energy database. Dimalanta called the move “a huge win for transparency,” saying it would help investors identify where projects are needed while allowing the public to track progress.

Oil Stockpiles Only Offer Short-Term Relief 

Much of the week’s energy security discussion focused on oil. On Oct. 8, energy ministers from the Japan-led Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC), an initiative established to advance decarbonization, adopted a work program to expand oil stockpiling capacity and strengthen responses to supply disruptions. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined a special session and expressed willingness to support oil stockpiling efforts across Asia.

The program builds on POWERR Asia, a roughly USD 10 billion financing package launched by Japan in April to support oil procurement, storage infrastructure and emergency reserves across the region. Garin said the Philippines is working with Japan to assess the feasibility of hosting a regional petroleum stockpile, while developing its own national reserve, with the first facility targeted for completion by the end of 2027.

Dimalanta warned that while oil stockpiles could provide temporary relief, they would not reduce ASEAN’s exposure to volatile fuel prices or dependence on imported supplies. She added that new fossil fuel infrastructure risks locking consumers into imported fuel costs and long-lived assets.

Russell Marsh, Southeast Asia lead for energy transition and climate finance at E3G, said a short-term focus on securing supply was understandable during the crisis, but warned that it should not come at the expense of the longer-term transition away from fossil fuels.

Renewables Require Financing, Frameworks

The pace of renewable deployment remains a central concern. The new ASEAN Energy Outlook estimates that ASEAN needs to add about 31 GW of renewable capacity each year to meet its 2030 target, compared with a historical average of roughly 6.5 GW.

Asked which renewable technologies could close the gap, Marsh said ASEAN would need all of them, adding that countries should match technologies to their own resource advantages while using the regional grid to move clean electricity across borders.

Ann Francisco, Philippine Country Manager at the Global Wind Energy Council, agreed that ASEAN needs a diversified technology mix, but said the policy and investment frameworks behind those technologies matter more.

Energy experts at the media forum on Oct. 9. From left: Monalisa Dimalanta, former chairperson of the Philippines’ Energy Regulatory Commission; Robert Cooke of the Global Renewables Alliance; Ann Francisco of the Global Wind Energy Council; and Russell Marsh of E3G. By Wendy Lo.

Garin said investment commitments from the week had yet to be quantified. An ASEAN-led and managed clean energy investment fund she proposed at the meeting’s opening on Oct. 6 was not among the outcomes she presented. Garin estimated that the region needs around USD 150 billion annually in clean energy financing.

Dimalanta called on ASEAN to deliver three things before the 49th ASEAN Summit in Manila in November: a power grid package with project-level dates and financing, an energy security protocol linking stockpiles with power-system assistance, and an investment platform for bankable clean energy projects. 

Francisco said the industry wants to see these commitments translated into concrete projects under the next ASEAN chairship, which Singapore is set to assume in 2027.