Duo going on low-carbon mission to enhance Southeast Asia’s energy resilience

The Asia Natural Gas and Energy Association (ANGEA) and the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) have inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to expedite energy transition and strengthen the security of power supply in Southeast Asia.

The deal focuses on the development of liquefied natural gas (LNG), methane emissions management, power market, and carbon capture utilization and/or storage (CCU/S) initiatives as the means to improve the region’s energy security. 

This follows a white paper, titled ‘ASEAN Interconnector Study: Taking a Regional Approach to Decarbonization,’ in which DNV found that ASEAN member states could slash their decarbonization costs by $800 billion by pursuing regional collaboration for projects entailing power interconnectors, hydrogen networks, and energy storage infrastructure.

The MOU intends to support the regional energy blueprint document – the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC), comprising several areas and strategies to accelerate energy transition while ramping up energy resilience. These are slated to be implemented by the ASEAN countries’ sectoral energy bodies / sub-sector networks, with support from ACE and assistance from international organizations and dialogue partners.

ANGEA’s CEO Paul Everingham noted: “Both organisations have a strong commitment to supporting countries in their efforts to balance economic growth with progress on climate ambitions. Access to affordable and available LNG will be central to Southeast Asian nations achieving this balance and developing the region’s import capabilities will be a core aspect of this MOU.

“It’s fitting that the signing ceremony coincided with an event focussed on carbon capture and storage (CCS), given the role this technology will play in Southeast Asia’s energy transition and the strong programs of work ANGEA and ACE are undertaking to accelerate the development of CCS.”

The newly formed collaboration has the potential to include capacity building, knowledge sharing, or development of various studies on the natural gas market, policy and infrastructure, methane management, power market modeling, and CCU/S projects, particularly those relating to carbon accreditation frameworks.

ACE’s Deputy Executive Director, Beni Suryadi, stressed the growing importance of LNG as a bridge fuel for energy transition, regional power trading to promote clean and renewable energy integration, CCU/S to strengthen regional energy security while pursuing cleaner energy sources, and methane emissions mitigation in tackling the climate change quicker.

“Considering the role of natural gas as the bridge fuel for energy transition, the ASEAN Energy Outlook highlights the significant growth in natural gas demand, with projections indicating consumption will reach 32.91 Mtoe in 2025 and 71.42 Mtoe in 2050,” Suryadi said, expressing hope that “the cooperation between ACE and ANGEA [can] continuously expand for years to come, producing fruitful and concrete initiatives to advance ASEAN’s energy transition and strengthen energy security towards a sustainable low-carbon economy.”

The duo says the MOU underlines their commitment to advancing sustainable energy solutions that align with the economic and environmental goals of ASEAN member states. Both partners expect to make strides in ensuring energy security and accelerating the region’s transition to a low-carbon future.

This comes on the heels of another MOU, signed less than a week ago between ANGEA and the Korean Private LNG Industry Association to cooperate on natural gas development in Asia and explore the role of LNG in the energy transition.