Philippines eyes Indonesia link for Asean Power Grid

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is exploring a potential interconnection with Indonesia under the broader ASEAN Power Grid initiative, which aims to enable cross-border electricity trade across Southeast Asia.

Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said the government is accelerating efforts to establish possible power links with Indonesia via Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Basilan and mainland Mindanao.

“But this requires close coordination, either bilaterally with Indonesia or through a multilateral ASEAN forum,” he said in a media briefing.

As this year’s ASEAN chair, the Philippines has been at the forefront of advancing the enhanced ASEAN Power Grid amid rising electricity demand across the region.

Connecting ASEAN member-states’ power transmission networks has long been an ambitious vision, but slow execution has held back progress.

Over the past year, however, momentum has grown, as ASEAN energy ministers endorsed the terms of reference for a framework aimed at establishing physical cross-border infrastructure of subsea power cables.

According to Fuentebella, Phase 1 of the regional interconnectivity project is already underway, with the Laos–Thailand–Malaysia–Singapore power integration already in motion.

The next phase, he added, envisions linking Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

As power demand rises, Fuentebella underscored the urgent need to strengthen regional resilience, accelerate interconnection and deepen partnerships.

“Energy security remains a fundamental pillar of ASEAN’s economic resilience and competitiveness. Our collective efforts must continue to focus on practical, implementation-oriented cooperation that delivers tangible benefits to our peoples and economies,” he said.

First envisioned in 1997, the ASEAN Power Grid seeks to connect the electricity networks of ASEAN countries by 2045.

Despite growing momentum, financing continues to be the “primary bottleneck” for the regional project, according to research and analysis firm BMI.

Multilateral lender Asian Development Bank has committed up to $10 billion for the ASEAN Power Grid to help the region meet the need for modern, interconnected energy systems.

Even so, BMI noted that the funding still falls far short of the estimated $100 billion needed by 2045 for transmission infrastructure alone.

The World Bank Group earlier estimated that around $800 billion in power generation and transmission investments is needed to support ASEAN’s goal of connecting its electricity networks.