News and Updates

Welcome to the August 2026 edition of SIPET Connect! 

Over the past five years, the Southeast Asia Information Platform for the Energy Transition (SIPET) has grown into a trusted regional knowledge platform, connecting policymakers, researchers, development partners, and energy stakeholders with the information and tools needed to support Southeast Asia's clean energy transition. 

As SIPET moves into its next chapter with the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE), SIPET Connect has also reached its final edition.

In this final edition of SIPET Connect, we look ahead to what comes next. In our Special Feature, Silvira Ayu Rosalia from the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) and Maximilian Heil, Regional Project Coordinator for CASE for Southeast Asia at GIZ Thailand come together for a conversation on SIPET's evolution, the importance of regional ownership, and what the platform's transition to the ASEAN Energy Database System (AEDS) means for the future. Together, they reflect on the journey so far and share how SIPET's knowledge, tools, and resources will continue supporting Southeast Asia's clean energy transition under ASEAN's stewardship. 

In our Explainer Series, we unpack the International Energy Agency's latest Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2026, exploring why critical minerals have become central to the global clean energy transition and what the report means for Southeast Asia as demand for renewable energy technologies continues to grow. 

As always, we also bring you a curated selection of recent publications and resources from across Southeast Asia's clean energy community. 

It has been a pleasure and a privilege over the past several years bringing you updates on the activities, trends, and especially the voices of the energy transition from across Southeast Asia. 

— Drishti Chhibber and Peter du Pont, GIZ Consultants, Editors of SIPET Connect  

Welcome to the July 2026 edition of SIPET Connect! 

The energy transition is often discussed in terms of technologies, policies, and investment. But behind many of the region's most significant advances is something less visible: long-term partnerships that bring together governments, development institutions, technical experts, and regional organisations to turn ambition into action. 

This month, SIPET Connect explores how international cooperation is helping shape Southeast Asia's clean energy future. 

In our latest Transition Toolbox, Maximilian Heil of GIZ Thailand and SIPET Connect speaks with Gaspard De Bousies, Programme Manager – Energy & Environment at the Delegation of the European Union to ASEAN (EU in ASEAN) about the European Union's longstanding partnership with ASEAN and its evolving role in supporting the region's energy transition. The conversation reflects on the value of regional cooperation, the importance of investing in local institutions and knowledge exchange, and why building lasting partnerships remains essential to delivering a more secure, resilient, and sustainable energy future. 

Welcome to the June 2026 edition of SIPET Connect! 

This month, SIPET Connect, turns to a question that has been building across the region for several years: Southeast Asia is not short on green ambition, but it may be short on execution. 

In our latest Transition Toolbox, we feature Aviva Imhof, Senior Director, Southeast Asia, Tara Climate Foundation, on the role of climate philanthropy in supporting Southeast Asia’s clean energy transition. The conversation explores how strategic partnerships, flexible funding, and regional collaboration can help accelerate practical action across the power sector.

In our Explainer, we unpack the findings of the Southeast Asia's Green Economy Report 2026: The New Calculus by Bain & Company and Standard Chartered, released in May. The report reveals a structural conversion problem at the heart of the region's transition: it is not capital that is missing, but the conditions to deploy it. With over a third of announced green investment at risk of not being realised, the pressure is on governments, utilities, and financiers to close the gap before long-term fossil fuel contracts lock in the wrong trajectory.

As always, we also provide a round-up of jobs, publications, and events worth watching across the region.

Welcome to the May 2026 edition of SIPET Connect! 

This month, SIPET Connect turns to an issue that feels especially timely for Southeast Asia’s transition. 

In our latest Transition Toolbox, we speak with Robert Tromop of the Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre (APERC) about the role of long-range energy outlooks, data, and modelling in shaping better regional energy decisions. As Southeast Asia navigates rising demand, shifting fuel markets, and more complex transition choices, the conversation is a reminder that credible planning tools matter just as much as ambitious targets. 

In our Explainer, we look at the current energy crisis rippling across Asia following the disruption of Middle East supply routes. What began as a geopolitical shock has quickly become a test of how exposed the region remains to imported fossil fuels, concentrated shipping routes, and price volatility. For Southeast Asia, the lesson is not only about emergency response, but about what real energy security requires next: more resilient systems, lower fuel dependence, and faster progress on clean power, efficiency, and flexibility.  

As always, we also round up a few jobs, publications, and events worth watching across the region.  

Welcome to the March 2026 edition of SIPET Connect! 

Marking March as Global Gender Equality Month, including International Women's Day, we turn to a dimension of the energy transition that is gaining visibility, but still struggles to translate into system-level change: gender. 

March’s Transition Toolbox, Ellen Bomasang shares insights from over three decades across energy and development, reflecting on how the sector’s approach to gender has evolved—and what it will take to move beyond participation toward structural change. From workforce dynamics to financing and institutional design, the conversation highlights where real progress is happening, and where gaps remain. 

Our Explainer Series builds on this by unpacking what the global evidence says about women’s participation in renewable energy, and why a gender-responsive approach is essential to making the transition both effective and equitable. 

Welcome to the February 2026 Edition of SIPET Connect. 

In this edition, we take a closer look at a question that continues to surface across Southeast Asia’s transition: why do strong projects still face challenges finding the right capital (and vice versa)? 

In this month’s Transition Toolbox, Sarah Love, who leads the FCDO’s Climate, Energy and Nature Network in Southeast Asia, speaks with Peter du Pont of SIPET Connect about what actually needs to change—from building a stronger pipeline of investable opportunities, to why momentum is building behind the ASEAN Power Grid, and how coordination platforms like PACE and blended finance tools (including FAST-P) can unlock the flow of private capital from interest to action. 

Welcome to SIPET Connect’s first edition of 2026.

As the year begins, this issue focuses on the practical “how” of advancing Southeast Asia’s energy transition. In our Transition Toolbox interview, Adritha Subbiah from Southeast Asia Energy Transition Partnership (ETP), shares how the SPARK initiative is building trusted, closed-door peer learning networks for senior policymakers to tackle thorny issues like carbon markets and coal phase-down.

Our Explainer this month looks at why transition finance matters for decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors, before we mark the International Day of Clean Energy and close with the SIPET Noticeboard and reading list to keep your 2026 radar sharp. 

Welcome to the December 2025 Edition of SIPET Connect, where we close the year by looking at how global climate politics and regional action are evolving.  

We start with an in-depth interview with Frauke Röser, Co-Founder and Director of NewClimate Institute, who offers a candid insider view of COP30 in Belém and what it means for fossil fuels, just transition, and NDC ambition. Our Explainer then breaks down the key outcomes from COP30, before we shift gears to a year-in-review of SIPET in 2025, from the Transition Finance Series and the new Transition Toolbox to the Power Policy Tracker and other tools helping Southeast Asia’s clean energy transition take shape.