How Mainland SE Asia is Customizing its Approach to Renewables

Southeast Asian countries are adopting renewable energy into their energy mixes in a myriad of ways. While fossil fuels like coal and oil still play a key role in their economies, Southeast Asia is incorporating solar, hydropower and other renewables at increasingly higher rates. Each nation in the region has taken its own approach to the transition.

Thailand, for starters, has pursued hydropower and solar energy heavily but was sluggish in its approach to wind energy. The country has the capacity to produce significant wind energy in the north and northeast, and even though it launched its first wind project in the late 1980s, projects producing more than one megawatt of wind energy didn’t launch until nearly three decades later. Thailand’s high wind areas have the capacity to produce 13 to 17 gigawatts (GW) of wind energy but onshore wind makes up just 3% (1.5 GW) of its energy capacity.

Laos, the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, is betting big on hydro energy. Bordering Vietnam to the east, Laos is looking to become the “Battery of Asia” by leveraging its resources to boost hydropower production and sell the surplus to China and other Asian nations. Laos has also launched programs to incentivize wind and solar projects in response to complaints about potentially overusing natural resources in the Mekong area. This includes the Monsoon Wind Power project (MWP), the first large-scale onshore wind project in Laos and one of the largest, if not the largest, such project in Southeast Asia.

Cambodia went through massive blackouts and power shortages due to overconsumption and drought. One survey from the World Bank estimates that up to 43% of companies have gone through outages amid nationwide blackouts. To help meet its short and long-term energy needs, Cambodian authorities recently approved the construction of several hydro and wind energy projects with a projected capacity of 900 MW. This includes the 150 MW HK Oasis Power wind project that is set to start producing energy next year. All hydropower projects will be located in Mondulkiri province.

Vietnam draws most of its non-hydro clean energy from wind thanks to its network of 84 wind farms and a feed-in tariffs system that incentivizes wind energy. Under this system, the Vietnamese government pays above-average prices for clean energy. Coupled with Vietnam’s robust policy support and natural potential for both offshore and onshore wind energy, the feed-in tariff system has made Vietnam incredibly attractive to renewable energy investors. The country has installed close to 5GW of wind capacity and has plans to install 21 to 38GW by 2030.

Myanmar, on the other hand, has seen many of its wind power projects collapse during the ongoing civil conflict and military junta rule. For instance, the Chaung-Tha project, developed by China, fell through shortly after the 2021 coup, but the ruling junta is currently working with Russian state-owned company Rosatom to expand its wind capacity.

Each country has taken a different approach to ramping up its adoption of renewable energy. The region presents interesting scenarios that companies like PowerBank Corporation (NASDAQ: SUUN) (Cboe CA: SUNN) (FSE: 103) with ambitions of creating global footprints can study for possible expansion.

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