Day 4 29 October 2026

Sweden brings energy expertise, while Singapore offers strong regional connections. Together, these strengths could open new opportunities for collaboration as Southeast Asia works towards a more secure and sustainable energy future.

The potential for such collaboration was highlighted during the opening of the Spotlight Sweden Forum. The welcome remarks were delivered by Puah Kok Keong, Chief Executive of the Energy Market Authority (EMA), and Anders Fredrik Sjöberg, Swedish Ambassador to Singapore.

Helena Bernland, Senior Business Developer for International Markets at the Swedish Energy Agency, presented the keynote, Spotlighting Sweden's Energy Sector.

Find out how Singapore and Sweden are deepening energy cooperation

SIEW Thinktank Roundtable A featured a panel discussion that brought together policymakers, regulators and industry representatives to examine the practical conditions needed to strengthen regional energy integration. The session was moderated by Straits Times Journalist Shabana Begum. Key takeaways included:

• Turning ASEAN Power Grid commitments into action: Beni Suryadi, Senior Manager of APAEC, ASEAN Centre for Energy, highlighted ongoing work to translate regional agreements into actionable frameworks. Under Singapore's 2027 ASEAN Chairmanship, anticipated deliverables include frameworks for subsea cables, regional Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), wheeling charges and projects of common interest. He also emphasised expanding electricity trade through existing infrastructure while progressing more complex interconnection projects.
• Making cross-border renewable energy claims credible: Roble P. Velasco-Rosenheim, Regional Director, Global Partnerships and APAC, The International Tracking Standard Foundation, stressed the importance of aligning regional REC mechanisms with international reporting requirements while respecting national regulatory priorities.
• Strengthening corporate demand for renewable electricity: Soon Sze Meng, CEO, GoNetZero, noted that corporate climate commitments continue to drive demand for RECs and renewable power purchase agreements. Buyers increasingly prioritise certificate origin, generation date and hourly generation data, with some willing to pay a premium for greater traceability and verification.
• Providing investment certainty through regulation: Chris Stark, Head of UK's Mission for Clean Power, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, highlighted the UK's experience in regional system planning, including plans to expand electricity interconnection capacity from approximately 10 to 18 gigawatts. He emphasised clear long-term objectives, stable regulatory frameworks and mechanisms such as contracts for difference and cap-and-floor arrangements to strengthen investor confidence.
• Balancing infrastructure investment with consumer interests: David Stanford, Executive Director of Technical and International, Australian Energy Regulator, drew on Australia's interconnected electricity market to highlight the resilience benefits of regional integration. He emphasised transparent allocation of project costs, risks and benefits, alongside community engagement, as essential to securing support for major transmission infrastructure.
• Using regional trade to improve grid flexibility: Soichi Morimoto, Senior Researcher, The Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ), shared modelling showing how expanded electricity trade could support renewable energy integration.

The discussion underscored that realising the APG's potential will depend on coordinating infrastructure development with credible market mechanisms, regulatory cooperation and investment frameworks.

Stay tuned as the conversation evolves throughout the day. Follow @SIEW_sg on Telegram and X (formerly Twitter) for key insights and the latest updates.

By Jin Wang

Expanding the ASEAN Power Grid (APG) could increase renewable energy adoption while reducing overall energy system costs across Southeast Asia.

At SIEW Thinktank Roundtable A, Soichi Morimoto, Senior Researcher at The Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ), presented modelling findings showing how stronger regional electricity interconnections could improve energy self-sufficiency, optimise renewable resource allocation and create economic opportunities for electricity-exporting countries.

• Regional interconnectivity could unlock ASEAN's renewable energy potential: Mr Morimoto highlighted the uneven distribution of renewable resources across Southeast Asia. Offshore wind potential is concentrated in the Philippines, Vietnam and eastern Indonesia, while Myanmar accounts for more than half of the region's hydropower potential. Stronger cross-border connections could help ASEAN countries make better use of these resources.
• APG expansion could increase renewable energy's share of electricity generation: IEEJ's modelling compared scenarios with different levels of regional transmission capacity, finding that greater interconnectivity could support increased renewable electricity generation by 2050. Offshore wind in Vietnam and hydropower in Myanmar and Lao PDR were identified as key contributors to this increase.
• Stronger interconnections could lower overall energy system costs: IEEJ's modelling suggests that additional investment in regional grid infrastructure, renewables and electrification could be more than offset by savings in fuel, battery storage and fossil fuel-related assets. Mr Morimoto also highlighted the potential for electricity-exporting countries to offset higher domestic system costs through cross-border electricity trade.

The findings suggest that deeper regional grid integration could help ASEAN achieve both greater renewable energy adoption and lower overall system costs, while creating economic opportunities for countries with abundant renewable resources.

Stay tuned as the conversation evolves throughout the day. Follow @SIEW_sg on Telegram and X (formerly Twitter) for key insights and the latest updates.

By Derek Chua

The ASEAN Power Grid (APG) has the potential to strengthen energy security, support decarbonisation and deliver wider economic benefits across Southeast Asia. However, translating regional ambitions into functioning interconnections will require clearer cost-sharing arrangements, regulatory certainty and coordinated project planning.

At SIEW Thinktank Roundtable A, policymakers and industry leaders examined the practical steps needed to advance cross-border electricity trade. The discussion was moderated by Dr Roger Fouquet, Principal Research Fellow, Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore.

Explore the key considerations for advancing the ASEAN Power Grid

In his keynote at SIEW Thinktank Roundtable A, Professor Ross Garnaut AC, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne and The Australian National University, outlined how the transition to renewable energy will fundamentally reshape international energy trade, creating new opportunities for regional grid connectivity and cooperation.

A new model for international energy trade

Prof Garnaut explained how international trade in fossil fuels enabled resource-constrained economies in Northeast Asia and Europe to develop into major industrial centres. As countries move towards net zero, however, the economics of energy trade will change.

Unlike oil, coal and natural gas, electricity and zero-carbon hydrogen are relatively expensive to transport over long distances. As a result, Prof Garnaut expects a greater share of future energy trade to be embedded in manufactured goods, with energy-intensive production increasingly taking place where renewable resources are abundant.

Nevertheless, cross-border electricity trade will remain important for two reasons: diversifying energy supply and meeting demand in economies with limited domestic renewable resources.

Connecting electricity networks across different geographies can help balance variations in solar and wind generation, while allowing energy-constrained economies such as Singapore to access renewable electricity from neighbouring countries.

Connecting Asia’s renewable energy resources

Turning to regional grid developments, Prof Garnaut cited the Lao PDR–Thailand–Malaysia–Singapore (LTMS) electricity trading arrangement as an important backbone for regional interconnectivity.

He also highlighted the potential of submarine high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission infrastructure to connect the island economies of Southeast Asia. Indonesia and the Philippines possess substantial renewable energy resources, but these are distributed across different islands. Developing domestic transmission networks would therefore help both countries connect renewable energy generation with centres of demand.

Prof Garnaut explained that these networks could eventually support broader regional electricity trade. In particular, connecting Indonesia's island grids with Australia and mainland Southeast Asia could create new pathways for electricity trade between Australia's renewable energy resources and Asian markets.

He emphasised that developing this infrastructure requires stronger cooperation both within ASEAN and with regional partners, including Australia, Japan, South Korea and China.

Stay tuned as the conversation evolves throughout the day. Follow @SIEW_sg on Telegram and X (formerly Twitter) for key insights and the latest updates.

Strengthening regional power connectivity will require more than physical infrastructure. Market frameworks, investment certainty and regulatory cooperation will be equally important to advancing the ASEAN Power Grid (APG). Speakers at SIEW Thinktank Roundtable A outlined the priorities for accelerating regional electricity trade and strengthening energy security.

At the opening, Chua Shun Loong, Assistant Chief Executive (Energy Policy), Energy Market Authority (EMA) of Singapore, emphasised the need to advance physical interconnections alongside market mechanisms that give investors and electricity buyers greater confidence.

On infrastructure, he highlighted Singapore's recent conditional approval to import up to 1.3 gigawatts of low-carbon electricity from and through Peninsular Malaysia, alongside earlier conditional approvals for a further 900 megawatts of electricity imports from Johor. These projects demonstrate how regional partnerships can unlock renewable energy resources and investment opportunities.

Beyond infrastructure, Mr Chua pointed to the importance of credible cross-border renewable energy certificates (RECs) in facilitating regional electricity trade.

Peter Govindasamy, Executive Director, Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore (NUS); Adjust Professor, Faculty of Science, NUS; Director General, Ministry of Energy, Trade, and Industry, Singapore, shared that energy security increasingly depends on diversification, connectivity and cross-border cooperation rather than self-sufficiency.

H.E. Felix William B. Fuentebella, Undersecretary of Energy, Republic of the Philippines, emphasised that the success of the APG should be measured by improvements in electricity access, affordability, reliability, resilience and decarbonisation. He outlined the Philippines' priorities of securing a viable cross-border power interconnections.

Stay tuned as the conversation evolves throughout the day. Follow @SIEW_sg on Telegram and X (formerly Twitter) for key insights and the latest updates.

Regional power markets, energy security and low-carbon technologies take centre stage on Day 4 of the Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) 2026.

The Spotlight Sweden Forum: Energy Technologies for ASEAN’s Energy Future will examine opportunities for Sweden-Singapore collaboration, with discussions on nuclear energy partnerships and resilient power grids. Puah Kok Keong, Chief Executive, Energy Market Authority (EMA) of Singapore, and H.E. Anders Fredrik Sjöberg, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Embassy of Sweden, will deliver the Welcome Remarks. This will be followed by in-depth keynote sessions spotlighting Sweden’s energy sector and the Singapore-Sweden partnership.

This morning’s SIEW Thinktank Roundtable A, co-hosted with the Energy Studies Institute, will explore how connected grids and regional energy markets can support Asia’s decarbonisation.

In the afternoon, SIEW Thinktank Roundtable B co-hosted with the Atlantic Council will examine gas supply security and the role of natural gas in changing power systems. The SIEW Thinktank Roundtable C co-hosted with ERI@N will focus on emerging low-carbon technologies, including geothermal and biomethane, and the conditions needed to support wider commercial deployment.

Stay tuned as the conversation evolves throughout the day. Follow @SIEW_sg on Telegram and X (formerly Twitter) for key insights and the latest updates.