In this webinar, jointly held with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Dr Raul Miranda, Mr Ioannis Theologitis and Mr Akbar Dwi Wahyono discuss regional power grid integration challenges.
ISEAS-IRENA JOINT WEBINAR
Thursday, 13 July 2023 – Dr Raul Miranda, Programme Officer at the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), along with Mr Ioannis Theologitis, Integrated Systems Manager at the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E), and Mr Akbar Dwi Wahyono, Research Analyst at Power, Fossil Fuel, Alternative Energy and Storage Department at the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE), shared the current status of regional energy integration globally, in Europe and ASEAN; and discussed methods to tap on the possibilities of cross-border power trade. The session was moderated by Dr Mirza Sadaqat Huda, Lead Researcher of the Climate Change in Southeast Asia Programme (CCSEAP) at ISEAS.
Dr Mirza started the session by highlighting the role of regional cooperation in energy transition. He further explained the importance of sharing best practices to improve regional performance and productivity. Dr Mirza then launched a poll in which participants were asked to identify what they believed was the biggest challenge to energy integration in ASEAN. The survey results were discussed at the end of the webinar session. Most participants believed that bureaucratic challenges constituted the biggest obstacle to grid integration in the region.
Dr Raul Miranda began by defining the goal of regional energy markets as the facilitation of cross-border power trade by creating a larger balancing area with wider resource diversity, thereby reducing costs. He shared a global perspective on the evolution of regional markets – from the use of bilateral agreements to ensure coordination to the creation of open electricity markets and regional grid codes. A deeply integrated regional grid would increase flexibility by expanding the balancing area and operating across a large synchronous area, as well as promoting spatial complementarity across borders. However, differences in standards, services and energy reserve requirements across different stakeholders mean that the deployment of a regional grid takes several years and requires countries to tackle challenges spanning technical and regulatory requirements, and stakeholder roles and responsibilities. Dr Miranda then presented findings from the IRENA ASEAN Renewable Energy Outlook report, emphasising that transmission expansion and innovation are critical in meeting ASEAN’s energy demand.
Mr Ioannis Theologitis shared ENTSO-E’s evolution in the European Union’s regulatory environment as a vital platform for cooperation on operations, markets, power systems, technology and innovation as well as carbon neutrality. He shared the benefits of ENTSO-E’s success over the past 10 years, such as enhancing competitiveness, sustainability and creating a secure supply of energy for the region. He highlighted growing cooperation between transmission and grid operators which helps ensure transparency in data exchange, efficient balancing of power systems and facilitating greater flexibility and stakeholder input in markets and product design. Mr Theologitis then presented findings from ENTSO-E’s research paper, A Power System for a Carbon Neutral Europe, which identified key building blocks for the decarbonisation of the power sector: energy system flexibility, operating future-ready grids (including the integration of other sectors such as green gas and heating), energy infrastructure and investments and market design for carbon neutrality. On the latter, he emphasised the importance of a market design that maintains resource adequacy and sustainability, incentivises short-term flexibility, facilitates system resilience and ensures affordability for consumers.
Mr Akbar Dwi Wahyono shared ASEAN’s pathway to establishing the ASEAN Power Grid, a multilateral and regional power trading system. As of May 2022, ASEAN has up to 7,720 MW of power purchases under bilateral projects. The Laos-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Interconnection Project (LTMS-PIP), the region’s first multilateral project, has resulted in the trade of 265.73 GWh as of April 2023, with a view to increase its maximum power purchase amount from 100 MW to 300 MW. Mr Wahyono mentioned that while a key driver of the LTMS-PIP was strong intergovernmental support and cooperation, there were also technical, institutional and geopolitical challenges. Thus, it was vital to establish a roadmap and financial framework to set the direction and enable regional institutions to make structured and coordinated decisions. Finally, he shared about an upcoming feasibility study coordinated by ACE, which will support the development of technical and regulatory frameworks to promote private investments for ASEAN’s regional interconnection infrastructure.
The webinar ended with a Q&A session focusing on the feasibility of different grid integration systems in different regions, energy security and sovereignty concerns and the importance of political will and cooperation on regulatory frameworks for cross-border trade. The presentations and discussion highlighted that although technical constraints to the ASEAN Power Grid can be overcome, political issues may undermine or delay regional energy cooperation. The webinar drew over 130 attendees.