News and Updates

The commitment of major US financial institutions to net-zero goals is facing increasing challenges. Following Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Bank of America also announced by the end of 2024 their decision to exit the United Nations' Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA).

Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Bank of America issued separate statements announcing their withdrawal but emphasized their continued dedication to achieving net-zero targets.

*This excerpt is from a news item collated by SIPET as part of its mission to serve as a one-stop platform for information and knowledge exchange about the energy transition in Southeast Asia. For the full news item, click on the link next to 'Further Information' . 

**Photo credit: iStock

Energy demand is expected to increase this year, though total consumption dropped for much of 2024 amid slow economic growth, says the Energy Policy and Planning Office (Eppo).

Tourism, export expansion and state budget spending will drive demand for energy, said Wattanapong Kurovat, secretary-general of Eppo.

"We initially thought energy demand would drop in 2024 because of decreased energy consumption during the first nine months, but usage changed during the last three months," he said.

Economic activities in the final quarter, which is also the tourism high season, are expected to help increase the 2024 energy demand by 0.3% to 2.01 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOED), Mr Wattanapong said, in line with the improving economy.

*This excerpt is from a news item collated by SIPET as part of its mission to serve as a one-stop platform for information and knowledge exchange about the energy transition in Southeast Asia. For the full news item, click on the link next to 'Further Information' . 

**Photo credit: Apichart Jinakul/Bangkok Post

Malaysia’s Tenaga Nasional (TNB), a government-owned integrated power utility company, and Singapore’s licensed electricity importer, Sembcorp Power, have signed an agreement to supply renewable energy to Singapore.

The first phase involves 50 megawatts (MW) of renewable-energy exports to Singapore, and will commence this month, Malaysia’s Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation said in a statement on Monday (Dec 9).

Under the supply agreement, TNB will deliver the electricity to Singapore via Sembcorp Power, using the existing infrastructure between the two countries. Overall, the renewable energy export programme to Singapore has a total capacity of 300 MW.

In a separate statement, TNB and Sembcorp Power said the initiative aligns with the Asean Power Grid initiative and Malaysia’s energy-transition goals, facilitating renewable-energy trade with regional countries through Energy Exchange Malaysia (Enegem).

*This excerpt is from a news item collated by SIPET as part of its mission to serve as a one-stop platform for information and knowledge exchange about the energy transition in Southeast Asia. For the full news item, click on the link next to 'Further Information' . 

**Photo credit: Tenaga Nasional

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has laid stress on the need to complete the resolution of obstacles for renewable projects by February 2025 to prevent wastefulness, contributing to ensuring electricity for development.

Chairing a hybrid conference on announcing and implementing the Government’s resolution on removing bottlenecks for the projects on December 12, the PM underscored that to achieve the country's targeted 8% economic growth in 2025, position itself for potential double-digit growth in 2026-2030, and enter a new era – the era of the nation’s rise, Vietnam must capitalise on all resources, including renewable energy infrastructure.

He called on the energy sector to ensure that electricity generation grows 1.5 times faster than economic growth, which means an annual growth rate of at least 12%.

With investments in renewable energy projects totaling more than 308 trillion VND (13 billion USD), delays in putting projects into operation waste immense social resources, he said, stressing while past implementation errors must be handled, it is a must to facilitate project continuation.

*This excerpt is from a news item collated by SIPET as part of its mission to serve as a one-stop platform for information and knowledge exchange about the energy transition in Southeast Asia. For the full news item, click on the link next to 'Further Information' . 

**Photo credit: VNA

The Department of Energy (DOE) of the Philippines has announced that starting December 26, the Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) trading system will fully return to a market-driven mechanism, ending more than two years of pilot operation under the Renewable Energy Market (REM).

In the future, REC prices will be determined by market supply and demand. This change is expected to further increase the share of renewable energy in the Philippines as demand drives supply.

Government sets minimum green power supply

To achieve renewable energy targets, the Philippine government has established a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), which requires electricity suppliers to purchase a certain percentage of renewable energy. This policy has been in effect for over four years, and the required percentage has now risen to 11%. The REC can be used as a tool to meet this requirement, with electricity suppliers able to obtain the certificates through market trading.

Under the current system, RECs are issued and verified by the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC), and the maximum price for the certificates is set by the DOE and approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). The current price is set at ₱241.56 per 1,000 kilowatt-hours (about 4.15 USD).

Each certificate represents 1,000 kWh of green power, and once used by the electricity supplier, the certificate is canceled and cannot be traded again. If not used, the certificate can be transferred under conditions of price and quantity disclosure. Furthermore, a green certificate can be retained for up to three years.

With the full operation of the renewable energy market, the issuance, safekeeping, and verification of certificates will be handled by the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP), a non-profit organization that manages the electricity spot market and retail operations. The price will be determined by market supply and demand.

*This excerpt is from a news item collated by SIPET as part of its mission to serve as a one-stop platform for information and knowledge exchange about the energy transition in Southeast Asia. For the full news item, click on the link next to 'Further Information' . 

**Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Singapore – which is exploring 7.35 gigawatts (GW) worth of clean power deals in Southeast Asia to meet its decarbonisation goals – is looking to develop a framework that recognises renewable energy credits (RECs) from these transactions, in a bid to increase the viability of costly cross-border projects for developers.

*This excerpt is from a news item collated by SIPET as part of its mission to serve as a one-stop platform for information and knowledge exchange about the energy transition in Southeast Asia. For the full news item, click on the link next to 'Further Information'. 

**Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Singapore and Malaysia are looking to expand cooperation into areas such as electricity trading and renewable energy cooperation.

This is on top of existing infrastructure projects such as the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) for business and investment, and the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link, which is slated to start operations by end-2026.

Speaking to Singapore media on Jan 7 at the end of the 11th Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said one major project in the works is the import of electricity from Sarawak via undersea cables.

Besides the JS-SEZ agreement, six memorandums of understanding and a letter of intent were exchanged on Jan 7 at the Leaders’ Retreat, where PM Wong was hosted by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Areas covered included carbon storage and capture and carbon credits cooperation.

*This excerpt is from a news item collated by SIPET as part of its mission to serve as a one-stop platform for information and knowledge exchange about the energy transition in Southeast Asia. For the full news item, click on the link next to 'Further Information' . 

**Photo credit: The Straits Times

Researchers from the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi used radiation data from global climate models available under the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) to analyse the twin impacts of climate change and air pollution on SPV performance. The CMIP6 is a leading group of models that uses different data sets to project the future impacts of climate change under various emission scenarios.

The study, using data from 1985 to 2014 as a baseline to predict a change from 2041 to 2050, concludes that SPV’s efficacy may decrease by 3.3% by the middle of the century. Based on current solar power production levels, the study estimates a loss of 600 to 840 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity annually.

*This excerpt is from a news item collated by SIPET as part of its mission to serve as a one-stop platform for information and knowledge exchange about the energy transition in Southeast Asia. For the full news item, click on the link next to 'Further Information' . 

**Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons