Following the success of the 1st Clean Energy Forum of the East Asia Summit, the National Energy Administration (NEA) of China co-organised the 2^nd East Asia Summit: Clean Energy Forum, with the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) in Haikou of Hainan Province, China on 18-19 November 2015. The Forum provided a platform for Southeast Asian policy makers to discuss potential cooperations with China and other East Asian countries in the clean energy industry.  With the theme of ‘Co-building up A Greener Energy Network for Sustainable Economic Progress’, the Forum covered the topics of nuclear energy, solar photovoltaics (PV), electric power  and Smart Energy City.   Those topics are in line with the directive of the 33rd ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) on 7 October 2015, with the theme of ‘Powering ASEAN Towards a Greener Community’.

The Forum was started with the opening ceremony addressed by the ACE’s Executive Director, Dr. Sanjayan Velautham; NEA of China’s Deputy Administrator, Zhang Yuqing; Mayor of People`s Government of Haikou, Ni Qiang; China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute’s Dorector General, Zheng Shengan; and China Southern Power Grid’s Deputy General Manager, Wang Jiuling. In his opening speech, Dr. Velautham highlighted that recently, the 33rd AMEM endorsed the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) 2016-2025. In this regard, it is very timely to explore clean energy in East Asia with the intent to facilitate closer energy cooperation among countries and parties involved, and to support the energy integration in the region. He also conveyed his highest gratitude to NEA, Government of Haikou and all the supporting parties for the success of the Forum.

In cooperation with China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute (CREEI) as the organiser, ACE co-organised one of the Forum’s sessions, Regional Cooperation on Energy, where Beni Suryadi, ACE’s Research Analyst, delivered the introductory speech: The opportunities and challenges in the development of ASEAN energy industry.  Two more introductory speeches followed, by Xu Xiaojie, a Research Fellow from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) who talked about Models and mechanisms for regional cooperation on energy development, and by Peng Cheng, CREEI’s CPC Secretary who discussed the conception and scheme for building a green energy network of China-ASEAN

ACE’s Executive Director interviewed by CCTV. Credit: ACE

During his interview with China Central Television (CCTV) News, Dr. Velautham welcomed the green energy network initiative as this will help ASEAN to tap the China’s expertise and capacity, as well as to build the energy sector in ASEAN Member States.  However, he said, there is a need for further discussion in order to properly secure the energy in a sustainable way and to spur the region’s economic growth.

See the interview here: http://news.cntv.cn/2015/11/19/VIDE1447886161819941.shtml.

For documents related to the event, please check this link for updates: https://www.aseanenergy.org/events/past-events/2nd-eas-clean-energy-forum-10-11-november-2015-cheng-du-pr-china/