Southeast Asia's short-term development of solar energy promotes energy transformation
Among the existing renewable energy technologies, solar energy is the best choice in terms of power generation potential and cost. To meet the rapidly growing energy needs of Southeast Asian countries while promoting energy transformation, countries can deploy solar energy as a short-term decarbonization strategy and invest in wind energy and hydropower in the medium to long term.
The Asia Sustainable Infrastructure Advisory Panel, established by Singapore, released its first report on promoting sustainable infrastructure construction in Southeast Asian and South Asian countries on Thursday (October 26). The advisory group is led by Ying Lanni, Minister of the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of National Development. The members include representatives from the academic and business communities at home and abroad.
In guiding decarbonization in the energy sector, the consulting group believes that regional governments need a broad strategy to achieve a low-carbon future, with different timelines based on the maturity of technology and market applicability.
The report mentions that countries can leverage existing technologies, coupled with innovative business and financing models, to accelerate energy transformation. Among all the validated technologies, solar energy is the most feasible in terms of power generation potential or cost.
In Southeast Asia, as of 2021, solar energy has the potential to produce 15603 gigawatts of electricity, which is more than 10 times the second largest offshore wind energy, and the average power generation cost has also sharply decreased by 88% between 2010 and 2021.
The report states: "Deploying solar energy can serve as a short-term decarbonization strategy, while in the medium term, other high investment energy projects such as wind and hydropower can be planned. Currently, the region utilizes large-scale utility scale solar power plants and smart solar grids to meet energy needs in a sustainable manner, while providing electricity to remote areas that are not connected to the grid.
In addition to energy transformation, the report also covers waste and water resource management to achieve the goal of building a circular economy, as well as how to secure funding from the private sector for sustainable infrastructure projects.
