Photo 1. ACE represented by Dr Zulfikar Yurnaidi and Ms Rika Safrina handed over a printed copy of AEO7 to NSTDA colleagues.

Continuing the last dissemination on the 7^th ASEAN Energy Outlook (AEO7) in Singapore, the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) paid a visit to Thailand with the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) as the first stop on 8 June 2023. The event is ACE’s relentless efforts to publicise its flagship report, the AEO7, to the ASEAN communities. This dissemination was concurrently conducted to present ACE’s other recent study on regional investment for the energy transition.

Opening remarks addressed by Dr Lily Eurwilaichitr, Assistant Executive Director, National Energy Technology Centre (ENTEC), NSTDA emphasised the importance of cooperation of institutions, including between ACE and NSTDA, as previously engaged in developing AEO7. Followed by a presentation by Dr Kampanart Silva, Researcher at ENTEC, NSTDA, introducing energy policy trends concerning carbon neutrality, 4D1E strategy, and the transport sector in Thailand. He also introduced Thailand’s Bio-Circular-Green Economy (BCG) Model and its adoption plan.

In setting the scene for this occasion, Dr Zulfikar Yurnaidi, Manager of Energy Modelling and Policy Planning (MPP) from ACE, introduced AEO as ACE’s flagship report and briefly explained its recent edition, AEO7. The outlook serves as a complementary report for the ASEAN Plan of Action Energy Cooperation (APAEC) in monitoring and projecting the energy landscape in the region. During his presentation, he highlighted the modelling tool and the various scenarios in AEO7 to track energy consumption, production and resource extraction in all sectors, including technology deployments in the energy sector.

Next presentation by Ms Rika Safrina, Senior Analyst of MPP of ACE, further elaborated on the AEO7′ study findings. She emphasised that the regional energy demand and supply will sharply increase by 2050 as fossil fuel remains the largest resource. The AEO7 showed that ASEAN would become the net natural gas and coal importer by 2025 and 2039, respectively. Furthermore, Mrs Rika also presented other findings on the transport sector’s role in reducing oil import dependence.

Furthermore, Ms Rika presented ACE’s recent study on ASEAN energy investments, supported by the Energy Foundation China. Based on AEO7, the total required investment from 2020-2050 is USD 1070 billion, but the region has limited public finance, which dominates its current financial source of clean energy investment. In her presentation, she also comprehensively explained each AMS’ progress in clean energy investment and proposed an energy investment roadmap to determine the most concerning issue in their capacity-building programmes for each country.

Finally, the session wrapped up with Dr Nuwong Chollacoop, Director of ENTEC, NSTDA, facilitated extensive discussions among participants and fruitful outcomes for establishing the next AEO. Moreover, this dissemination will allow ACE to collaborate closely with the NSTDA for future joint studies on ASEAN energy sectors