Photo 1. Data Sharing Workshop participants 

The ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) with support of USAID Southeast Asia Smart Power Program (SPP) organised the 3rd ASEAN Data Sharing Workshop on Guideline and Frameworks to Accelerate the Expansion of Multilateral Electricity Trading on 24 June 2024, at Crowne Plaza Vientiane Hotel, hosted by the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) of Lao PDR as part of the 42nd Senior Officials Meeting on Energy (SOME) and Its Associated Meetings. This in-person workshop brought together the ASEAN Power Grid (APG) Taskforce, ASEAN Energy Regulatory Networks (AERN), and APG stakeholders to collaborate on these essential stepwise plans for power exchange data sharing and power trade pathfinder project initiation to support the expansion of Multilateral Power Trading (MPT). Further, the workshop’s objective is to generate actionable recommendations and identify key areas for further development of data sharing roadmap to fulfil the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) Program Area No.1: ASEAN Power Grid (APG) and on Action Plan No. 3 develop guidelines and best practices for data sharing.  

The workshop commenced with an opening remark from Beni Suryadi, Head of the Power, Fossil Fuels, Alternative Energy, and Storage (PFS) Department at ACE, who expressed enthusiasm for the day’s discussions on drafting data sharing guideline and frameworks as the continuous effort towards the significant progress of data sharing over the years. Akbar Dwi Wahyono, Research Analyst of PFS at ACE, underscored the purpose of the workshop’s was to establish a stepwise data sharing roadmap, including agreements, guidelines, protocols, and the roles of each involved body to support the acceleration of the APG. Zamali Bin Zamin, Deputy Director of Strategy and Policy Development at Energy Commission of Malaysia shared insights on previous efforts from the Discussion Paper on Data Sharing developed by the AERN, recapped from the 1st Data Sharing Training 2022 and the 2nd Data Sharing Training for ASEAN Stakeholders 2023. These previous workshops focused on the data-sharing concept, requirements for different stages of MPT, and identified roles and governance considerations related to data sharing practices in ASEAN.    

Photo 2. (left to right) Grayson Heffner, Director of Utility Modernization and Power Trade at SPP, was presenting about the pathfinder project, and AEDS by Silvira Ayu Rosalia, Energy Statistician and Data Visualisation Officer at ACE 

The subsequent session featured a co-presentation from Grayson Heffner, Director, Utility Modernization and Power Trade, from SPP shared suggestions on advancing the Pathfinder Project to pilot the data-sharing framework. Silvira Ayu Rosalia, Energy Statistician and Data Visualisation Officer at ACE, continued the presentation about ASEAN Energy Database System (AEDS) as a prospective platform to host data under the pilot project and future data sharing initiatives. She highlighted the importance of AEDS for power exchange data sharing in facilitating a secure and seamless data transaction among APG stakeholders.  

Photo 3. Breakout Discussion with ACE as the note taker and facilitate by the consultant divided into four (4) Groups 

The session was followed by a breakout discussion which divided into four (4) groups involving APG stakeholders from utilities, regulators and policymakers to discuss the proposed data sharing framework and guidelines. The Group 1 goals were to discuss final proposal for Data Sharing framework and guidelines, especially relating to what data to be shared to escalate the current multilateral power trading. Meanwhile the Group 2 goals were to discuss the methodology or procedure on how data to be shared. Group 3 discussed the access and regulation which included the topic of stakeholder’s roles, equal access and transparency and relevant regulation to encourage timely delivery of data to the platform. Lastly, Group 4 were discussing the suggestions for Pathfinder Data Sharing Project.  

The stakeholders in Group 1 highlighted the existing experience and practice with data sharing in Malaysia’s case where the stakeholders are well-aware that data sharing practice were essential to functioning of electricity markets either in bilateral and multilateral power trading. The group suggested the necessity of data sharing practice to comply with the existing NDAs between the market administrators and the market actors or develop new ones. 

The stakeholders in Group 2 acknowledged the difference on data sharing standardization in each country which may be advantageous as references for further enhancement in implementing a regional data sharing standard. The group also agreed to establish a dedicated platform to maintain power data sharing by prospectively improving the AEDS to provide aggregated information and data in ASEAN context.  

The stakeholders in Group 3 approved of the importance of sharing the historical data to help enhance the power planning process, the more data shared, the better/more accurate the potential new markets to be utilized. The group also suggested that the successor of APG MOU could potentially support in encouraging equal and timely delivery of data between ASEAN utilities/stakeholders.  

The stakeholders in Group 4 approved of the possibility of starting the implementation project with most easily sharable data while the improvements can be regularly integrated to raise the standards of data sharing. The group also recognized the necessity for a body/institution (preferably ACE) that can assist the individual AMS for implementation of the data sharing guidelines.  

For way forward, ACE and its partners will integrate and synthesise the key learnings, insights, suggestions and considerations resulted from each group discussions to the proposed guidelines and framework for data sharing. Final recommendations for data sharing frameworks and guidelines will then be circulated for SOME/AMEM approval and/or endorsement.