The Asian Natural Gas and Energy Association (ANGEA) and the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote energy transition and enhance power supply security in Southeast Asia.
MOU signing ceremony; Source: Asian Natural Gas and Energy Association (ANGEA)
The agreement focuses on the development of liquefied natural gas (LNG), methane emissions management, electricity markets, and carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCU/S) initiatives as a means to improve energy security in the region.
This follows a white paper titled “ASEAN Interconnection Study: A Regional Approach to Decarbonization”, in which DNV concluded that ASEAN member states could reduce decarbonization costs by $800 billion by promoting regional cooperation on projects involving power interconnections, hydrogen networks and energy storage infrastructure.
The MOU aims to support the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC), a regional energy blueprint document that includes several areas and strategies for accelerating energy transition while strengthening energy resilience. These will be implemented by sectoral energy institutions/sub-sector networks of ASEAN countries with the support of ACE and supported by international organizations and dialogue partners.
Paul Everingham, CEO of ANGEA, said: “Both organizations have a strong commitment to supporting countries' efforts to balance economic growth with progress on climate change. Access to affordable and available LNG is central to helping Southeast Asian countries achieve this balance, and developing the region's import capacity will be at the core of this MOU.”
“It is fitting that the signing ceremony coincides with an event focused on carbon capture and storage (CCS), given the role this technology will play in Southeast Asia's energy transition and the strong work programme that ANGEA and ACE are undertaking to accelerate the development of CCS.”
The newly formed collaboration is likely to include capacity building, knowledge sharing, and development of a range of research on natural gas markets, policy and infrastructure, methane management, electricity market modelling, and CCU/S projects, particularly those related to the Carbon Certification Framework.
Beni Suryadi, Deputy Executive Director of ACE, highlighted the growing importance of LNG as a bridge fuel in the energy transition, regional power trading to promote the integration of clean and renewable energy, CCU/S to enhance regional energy security while pursuing cleaner energy sources, and methane emission mitigation to rapidly address climate change.
“Given the role of natural gas as a bridge fuel in the energy transition, the ASEAN Energy Outlook highlights a significant increase in natural gas demand, with consumption projected to reach 32.91 Mtoe in 2025 and 71.42 Mtoe in 2050,” said Suryadi, expressing hope that “cooperation between ACE and ANGEA can continue to expand in the years to come and produce fruitful and concrete efforts to advance ASEAN's energy transition and enhance energy security towards a sustainable low-carbon economy.”
The two companies said the MoU underscores their commitment to promoting sustainable energy solutions that are aligned with the economic and environmental goals of ASEAN member states. They hope to make significant progress in ensuring energy security and accelerating the region's transition to a low-carbon future.
This follows another MOU signed less than a week ago between ANGEA and the Korea Private LNG Industry Association to cooperate on natural gas development in Asia and explore the role of LNG in the energy transition.
