Malaysia REC Market Assessment and Opportunities for Regional Integration

Integrating complex systems of variable renewable energy (RE) sources can introduce new electrical accidents, especially in the ambition of RE shares in ASEAN countries. These include risks of fires and system failures due to improper installations, overloading, and climate impacts.

Electrical accidents are still prevalent in many ASEAN countries, both in general, like in commercial and residential, and specifically related to RE systems.

Safety agencies in ASEAN countries lack independent agencies focused solely on electrical safety, which limits the effectiveness of enforcement and oversight. Most ASEAN countries still operate within ministerial agency structures, with complex safety and non-safety roles and responsibilities that dilute focus.

Restructuring agencies into independent agencies in ASEAN could follow models from developed countries like Australia, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea (ROK) through the Korea Electrical Safety Corporation (KESCO). These models create truly independent agencies that are separate from political and non-safety roles, thus strengthening safety implementation through better regulatory intensity and technological advancements.

Authors: Zahrah Zafira, Fadhal Pandya Faiz, Monika Merdekawati, Oh Dongmin

'Toward a Low-Carbon and Just Energy Transition in Developing Asia' explores the large-scale benefits of the decarbonization of coal-fired power plants. It examines opportunities for reducing direct carbon emissions, such as measures on retiring existing coal-fired power plants and halting the construction of new ones.

The book presents innovative approaches, practical case studies, and targeted policy recommendations for advancing a just transition away from coal in developing Asia and the Pacific. It underscores the need to align socioeconomic and sustainability objectives for the region’s energy transition to be inclusive, resilient, and durable.

Editors: Dina Azhgaliyeva, Alfredo Baño Leal, and Bo Shen

Climate change has become a major talking point among the media in the past decade. This was also triggered by The Paris Agreement, signed in 2016. Signed by 177 countries, it was a huge climate commitment. Since then, policies have started to change, various countries have started setting their nationally determined targets (NDCs) to achieve the Paris Agreement’s net zero emission target by 2050.

As one of the leading sources of information for people, the media needs to keep up with the latest trends in climate change, including the development of terminologies. To help with that, the project Clean, Affordable and Secure Energy (CASE) for Southeast Asia has created this climate and energy terminology handbook for media and journalists with relevant definitions and illustration to assist the production of news and literature related to the subject.

This report highlights the role of natural gas in meeting ASEAN’s surging energy demand growth, that is still dominated by fossil fuels. In 2022, one-fifth of ASEAN’s total primary energy supply was provided by natural gas, the fossil fuel with the least carbon dioxide emitted. However, the actual quantity of natural gas used in the region has remained stagnant in recent years, and tending to decline. ASEAN has also experienced a continuous decline in its gas production since 2019. To balance energy transition and energy security, the utilisation of natural gas must be expanded. This Report therefore maps the current natural gas demand, supply, and infrastructure, along with exploring natural gas development challenges and recommendations in the region.

The demand for Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) in ASEAN is driven by voluntary clean energy goals of corporations, especially multi-national corporations, as well as decarbonisation goals of national governments. Most countries in ASEAN actively trade RECs domestically, largely through international RECs issuers and trading platforms.

Policy and regulatory gaps prevent cross-border RECs transactions in ASEAN from being considered intra-market transactions. The main identified gaps are: i) Absence of shared Energy Sector Regulations, ii) Need for harmonisation and uniform Adoption of REC Standards, iii) Need of regional governance of best practices.

RECs associated with cross-border trade on grid-to-grid lines in ASEAN are currently not recognised by international reporting frameworks such as RE100, undermining the value of such trade. The following approaches may be studied in more detail to determine whether they can address the gaps identified: 1) Harmonising RECs Standards, 2) Regulatory Alignment on Power Trade, and 3) Sub-Regional Markets.

Authors: Nadhilah Shani, Monika Merdekawati, Marcel Nicky Arianto, Veronica Ayu Pangestika