Vietnam accounts for nearly 70% of Southeast Asia's solar and wind generation

With an average annual growth rate of 43% since 2015, ASEAN, a grouping of ten countries in Southeast Asia, has increased its solar and wind generation; however, by 2022, that growth rate reduced to just 15%.

From 2015 to 2022, solar and wind power generation in ASEAN rose from 4.19 TWh to 50.19 TWh, driven by policies implemented by the member States to promote renewables deployment.

"We have seen some significant progress, with clean energy rapidly expanding in some ASEAN countries, aided by strong policies." To replicate the region's success and align with the IEA's net zero pathway, we need to adopt and enhance similar strategies in other ASEAN countries, including comprehensive domestic policies and full international financing support to ensure grid stability, energy security, and economic competitiveness," said Dr Dinita Setyawati, a senior policy analyst at Ember.

ASEAN's solar and wind capacity is currently 26.6 GW and 6.8 GW, respectively, but this only accounts for less than 1% of the region's potential. With electricity demand projected to grow by 4.3% annually, renewables are expected to meet this demand. 

The ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) targets 185 GW of renewable capacity addition by 2040, with solar contributing 45 GW and wind reaching approximately 9 GW. Both solar and wind are expected to account for 15% of ASEAN's electricity by 2040.

The ASEAN Centre for Energy proposes a cost-effective and technology-maturity scenario for 62 GW of combined solar and wind capacity by 2050.

Meanwhile, the IEA net-zero pathway aims for solar and wind to make up nearly 23% of the region's electricity generation mix by 2030, requiring 164 GW of solar and 65 GW of wind, resulting in a total capacity of 263 GW.

Source: VGP