Marcus Stewart, Head of Secretariat at the Green Grids Initiative (GGI), joined The Jolt podcast by Foresight Climate & Energy to discuss the role of grid infrastructure and regional interconnection in Southeast Asia’s energy transition.
The conversation focuses on the scale and pace of change across the region, with electricity demand projected to grow by around 4% annually to 2035, and the implications this has for grid development.
A central theme is the opportunity presented by greater interconnection between national power systems. Analysis suggests that a highly interconnected ASEAN grid could deliver up to $100 billion in economic benefits compared to a scenario with limited cross-border connectivity.
The discussion also explores the practical challenges associated with delivering this vision, including the need for coordinated regulatory frameworks, investment structures that can attract private capital, and approaches tailored to different national market contexts.
GGI continues to work with partners across the region to support grid development, interconnection, and the mobilisation of finance to enable the energy transition.
#NoTransitionWithoutTransmission
“The benefits of interconnecting the ASEAN power grid are huge. From a sort of economic point of view, there was a study done in 2023 that identified that there could be about a $100 billion worth of benefit of having a highly interconnected network versus no interconnection”
