The Edison Electric Instituteā€™s (EEIā€™s) International Division released a new book, Financing Asiaā€™s Electricity Sector 2035: Making it Happen, featuring 20 essays from leading experts on the outlook and opportunities for energy in Asia. The book was released at EEIā€™s Asian Energy Financial and Investment Conference, held during Singapore International Energy Week.
Across four sections, the essays capture the most current informed thinking, experience, and perspectives about the challenges, intricacies, and opportunities associated with financing Asiaā€™s electric power industry.
In Part I, The Big Picture: Energy in Asia and World, four essays probe the current state and future outlook for energy in Asia, emphasising the reality that how Asia meets growing demand will determine whether the global aims of the COP21 Paris Agreement can be achieved. The remaining essays explore bold visions and provide critical insights on the role of innovation in steering a clean energy transition for Asiaā€™s electric power industry regionally, nationally, and at the electric company level.
The essays in Part II, A Clean Energy Future for Asia, focus on the importance of resource diversity in Asiaā€™s energy future. The contributions examine different future scenarios that involve both renewable and conventional generation, as well as a hybrid mix of centralised and decentralised power supply systems. The geopolitical dimensions of achieving energy security are discussed within the context of the Asia-Pacific region.
Part III, Power Sector Reform: Attracting and Sustaining Investment, drives home the point that the lack of sound, realistic energy policies and stable regulatory regimes has been a major impediment to financing electricity infrastructure, not only in Asia but around the world. In response, various governments have attempted to undertake different reforms. The five essays in the section offer perspectives, including lessons learned, on electric power industry reforms in India, Japan, and the Philippines as well as at the regional level.
Finally, in Part IV, Pathways to Capitalising Asia's Electricity Infrastructure, the essays explore different mechanisms and instruments to both access and leverage capital for investment in electricity. Leading international and regional financial institutions put forth multiple options available to governments, electric companies, and project developers.
The book is available here.