Photo 1. ACE delegations with all participants from UBD (lecturers, researchers, and students) and several Brunei Darussalam’s government institutions representatives.

The ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) Roadshow on the 7th ASEAN Energy Outlook (AEO7) continue the visit to the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) following ACE’ successful co-organising the Energy Seminar on Brunei Mid-Year Conference and Exhibition (MYCE) 2023 with the Department of Energy, Prime Minister Officer of Brunei Darussalam from 10-11 July 2023 in International Convention Centre, Bandar Seri Begawan. The visit is part of the dissemination roadshow to promote ACE’s flagship report, the AEO7, to universities around the region.

Photo 2. Dr Hj Abdul Hanif Bin Dato Paduka Hj Mahadi received the 7^th ASEAN Energy Outlook

Dr Hj Abdul Hanif Bin Dato Paduka Hj Mahadi, Director at Centre for Advanced Material and Energy Sciences (CAMES) at UBD, enthusiastically commenced the event by delivering the warmest welcome to ACE and participants. He also showed his appreciation to ACE for initiating this roadshow series, which gave leading Brunei’s energy experts valuable knowledge.

Followed by Dr. Zulfikar Yurnaidi, Manager of Energy Modelling and Policy Planning (MPP) of ACE, as he honoured the UBD’s effort in facilitating this dissemination event to engage UBD’s students and researchers with the AEO7 for their future reference. He also thanked various parties from the government side also present at the event.

Photo 3. Presentation on AEO7

To provide an overview of the AEO7, Ms. Rika Safrina, Senior Analyst of MPP of ACE, explained ASEAN Energy Outlook (AEO) throughout the years along with the data requirements and modelling. The outlook has collected energy data directly from ASEAN Member States (AMS) that intended to monitor and project energy targets under the ASEAN Plan of Action Energy Cooperation (APAEC). Mrs Rika also presented the kind of modelling approaches and findings that AEO7 generated.

Next presentation by Ms. Amira Bilqis, Analyst of MPP of ACE, further elaborated Mrs. Rika’ explanation on the AEO7′ study findings. She underlined that fossil fuel will remain the largest resource by 2050, contributing to the region’s surged regional energy demand and supply. Oil and gas import dependency projection also highlighted Brunei’s thriving economy owing to this sector. She also presented several key analyses, particularly on technologies and polices, which highlighted ASEAN potential for more efficient electric vehicles and battery utilisation. Moreover, the AEO7 calculated that the annual gas emissions from the energy sector would be reduced to 2.9 from 6.7 Gt CO2-eq along with energy transition. Based on AEO7 findings, Ms. Amira pointed out several policy recommendations for AMS in navigating a secure and resilient energy transition, such as pushing higher energy efficiency and renewable energy penetration. Then, Ms Amira facilitated the question and answers on these findings with particular reference to the Brunei’s situation and the interest in emerging technologies.

This event is wrapped up with fruitful discussions about the region’s current and future energy landscape. Moreover, ACE hoped for continuous joint efforts with the UBD as this event embarked on a new phase of collaboration. Through this chance, ACE promoted its biggest agendas, namely ASEAN Energy Business Forum (AEBF) and the 3rd ASEAN International Conference on Energy and Environment (AICEE), which will officially kick off on 24-25 August 2023 in Bali, Indonesia. Previously, UBD was a co-host for the first AICEE, providing leeway for the current one.