Photo 1. 6th Cleaner Energy Future Initiative for ASEAN (CEFIA) Forum Group Photo  

The ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) co-organised the 6th Cleaner Energy Future Initiative (CEFIA) together with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) of Japan, hosted by Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE) of Thailand and in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan. The Forum was held at The Sukosol Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand, on 23 July 2024 and was attended by 76 participants. 

 The 6th CEFIA Forum brought together the ASEAN+3 government officials, international organisations or institutions, and private companies to share updates on key activities and discuss future activities towards cleaner energy and decarbonisation technology in hopes to achieve regional target of the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) Phase II: 2021 – 2025. 

Photo 2. Dr. Nuki Agya Utama, Executive Director of ACE, delivered Opening Remarks (left) and Group Photo of Christopher G. Zamora, Senior Head of ACE, Wattanapong Kurovat from DEDE, and Norihiro Kimura from METI (right) 

The forum began with remarkable opening remarks from Wattanapong Kurovat, Director General of DEDE, Thailand, as the host country. Later followed by virtual opening remarks from Kazuchika Iwata, State Minister of Economy at METI of Japan and  Dr. Nuki Agya Utama, Executive Director of ACE. 

As an introduction to the forum, Christopher G. Zamora, Senior Head of APAEC Department at ACE, delivered the updates and achievements of APAEC Phase II: 2021 – 2025, followed by the introduction of CEFIA which was delivered by Hiroyuki Mitsui, Deputy Director of Global Environmental Affair at METI of Japan. 

Photo 3. 6th CEFIA Forum Session Moderated by Representatives from METI of Japan 

The morning session, which was moderated by Haruna Yoshizawa, Section Chief of Global Environmental Affairs Office at METI of Japan, continued to the discussion of Flagship Projects (FP), which include Zero Energy Building (ZEB), Renkei, Microgrid, SteelEcosol, Biochar, and AC-ECP where each excellent speakers shared the progress of each FP, future initiatives, and best practices to enhance decarbonisation technology being promoted to ASEAN region. 

The afternoon session, moderated by Dynta Trishana Munardy, Senior Officer of APAEC at ACE, began with the showcasing of existing and future decarbonisation technologies that could be extended to the ASEAN region which highlighted the proposed activities from new candidates of CEFIA FP.  

Shifted to the next session, moderated by Yojiro Sumitomo, Officer of Global Environmental Affairs Office at METI of Japan, which showcased more insights on how to maintain public and private finance in advancing cleantech technology and innovation, Dr. Zulfikar Yurnaidi, Head of Energy Modelling and Policy Planning (MPP) and Energy Efficiency and Conservation (CEE) Department at ACE, shared insights about Global Cleantech Innovation Programme (GCIP) for ASEAN, which highlighted the updates regarding enhancement of clean energy technology ecosystem and its connectivity in ASEAN region.

Photo 4. Dr. Zulfikar Yurnaidi (left) and Christopher G. Zamora (right) from ACE as Presenters 

The next session, moderated by Dr. Zulfikar Yurnaidi, Head of Energy Modelling and Policy Planning (MPP) and Energy Efficiency and Conservation (CEE) Department at ACE, was opened to gain more understanding about financing, activity support, and risk management methods for project deployment. Mardika Firlina, Associate Research Analyst of CEE at ACE, delivered topics on regional context and initiatives on financial instruments and de-risking mechanism in hopes to accelerate the deployment of energy efficiency and clean energy future in ASEAN region. The previous delivered topic was brought as the main discussion topic to panel discussion, whereas there were four (4) panellists from Energy Commission of Malaysia, DEDE of Thailand, ADFIAP, and METI of Japan. 

Photo 5. Mardika Firlina, Associate Research Analyst at ACE (left) and Dynta Trishana Munardy, Senior Officer of APAEC at ACE (right) from ACE as Presenters 

The future activities of CEFIA session, moderated by Norihiro Kimura, Senior Negotiator for Climate Change from METI of Japan, were delivered in this forum as an initiative for continuous growth in accelerating energy transition towards a decarbonized energy system in ASEAN region. Dynta Trishana Munardy, Senior Officer of APAEC at ACE, shared her insights on the development and recommendations of APAEC Post – 2025. The presentation delivered by Dynta was brought as an insight to the open discussion session with each ASEAN Member States (AMS) discussing the feedback on CEFIA Flagship Projects (FP), proposed topics for the next CEFIA FP, and next activities to support the projects. 

Photo 6. Participants of the 6th CEFIA Forum at The Sukosol Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand 

As a closing, Norihiro Kimura, Senior Negotiator for Climate Change from METI of Japan, was the first to bring his closing remarks, followed by Christopher G. Zamora, Senior Head of APAEC Department at ACE, and lastly, Ms. Apiradee Thammanomai, Director of Strategy and Planning Division of DEDE of Thailand as this year’s host country.  

To sum up the forum, many remarkable and noteworthy ideas and knowledge were gained and shared by each participant, in the hopes to contribute to the continuous development and deployment of energy efficiency and cleaner energy solutions in ASEAN region. As an initiative to strengthen knowledge and best practices exchange, the next 7th CEFIA Forum is planned to be held on February 2025, Japan.