Reliable grids are key to sustaining ASEAN’s economic growth

The report highlights the critical role of grid reliability and 'smart grids' in sustaining ASEAN's economic growth and clean energy transition. While the region has seen improvements in outage duration and frequency, challenges remain regarding transmission capacity and the integration of solar and wind power. The document warns that failure to invest in digital intelligence and infrastructure could lead to nearly $2.3 billion in annual economic losses by 2040.

• Investment in transmission networks, cross-border interconnections, and digital solutions like demand response could prevent nearly $2.3 billion in annual GDP losses by 2040.
• ASEAN has made progress in grid reliability between 2015 and 2020, with the average outage duration (SAIDI) decreasing by nearly 60%, from 13 hours to just over 5 hours, and outage frequency (SAIFI) being reduced by half.
• Reliability performance varies significantly across the region; Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, and Thailand maintain outages below one hour per customer annually, whereas Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Myanmar experience longer outages.
• The region faces a massive increase in renewable capacity by 2050, with solar projected to grow from 27.7 GW in 2023 to 334.8 GW, wind from 7.4 GW to 228.4 GW, and batteries from 4.2 GW to nearly 94 GW.
• The economic cost of outages, measured by Value of Lost Load (VOLL), averages $2.4/kWh across ASEAN, but is significantly higher in Singapore, where it exceeds $6/kWh.

APA

Ember (2025). Reliable grids are key to sustaining ASEAN’s economic growth. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/reliable-grids-are-key-to-sustaining-aseans-economic-growth/

Chicago

Ember. Reliable grids are key to sustaining ASEAN’s economic growth. 2025. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/reliable-grids-are-key-to-sustaining-aseans-economic-growth/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Ember |title=Reliable grids are key to sustaining ASEAN’s economic growth |date=14 October 2025 |url=https://ember-energy.org/chapter/reliable-grids-are-key-to-sustaining-aseans-economic-growth/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ember2025reliable, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{Reliable grids are key to sustaining ASEAN’s economic growth}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = oct, url = {https://ember-energy.org/chapter/reliable-grids-are-key-to-sustaining-aseans-economic-growth/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }