The ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) organised the 7^th ASEAN Energy Outlook (AEO7) Dissemination to the academes and industries in the Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) campus in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on 10 May 2023. This event is a continuous effort of ACE after publishing the AEO7 to share insights on the outlook findings to the visited institution on the energy trends.

The symposium was conducted in a hybrid mode hosted by UNITEN Business School and the Institute of Energy Policy and Research (IEPRe) with the aim of creating a platform for academics, researchers, scholars and energy stakeholders to discuss and exchange views about the ASEAN’s energy landscape and outlooks until 2050, including impact analysis of regional energy transition scenarios. On this occasion, the symposium was attended by postdoctoral researchers and lecturers of UNITEN, as well as private energy sectors in Malaysia.

The event commenced with the introduction of the event by Ts Dr Siti Indati Mustapa, Deputy Dean (Research and Innovation), UNITEN Business School and Senior Research Fellow of the IEPRe. She highlighted the importance of regional cooperation in terms of academics and energy stakeholders towards clean energy transition.

The welcoming remark was delivered by Prof Dato’ Ts Dr Mohd Zamri Yusoff, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), UNITEN. He mentioned the potential collaboration and support from UNITEN members to strengthen regional energy research by explaining several prominent departments in UNITEN as a national energy university.

Before starting the technical presentation, Dr Norsyahida Mohammad, a postdoctoral researcher of IEPRe, delivered a fun warm-up activity in an online quiz format. He addressed several questions ranging from identity questions to energy-related questions. Regarding energy-related questions, most participants voted for Solar as the renewable energy source with the most potential resources in ASEAN. Interestingly, this vote is aligned with many ASEAN countries that are currently eager to develop solar power plant infrastructure. Other questions are whether the participant believes reaching net-zero emissions in 2050 is achievable. From the pool, many participants (around 57%) are optimistic about achieving the net-zero emission target.

The first presentation was presented by Dr Zulfikar Yurnaidi, Energy Modelling and Policy Planning (MPP) Manager of ACE, who introduced the ASEAN Energy Outlook (AEO) and its roles in regional energy cooperation. He emphasised AEO’s objective in complementing the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) 2016-2025 Phase II: 2021-2025 and supports the creation of pathways for achieving regional targets. He also briefly mentioned the insights on the methodology and modelling of AEO.

In the second presentation, Ms Rika Safrina, MPP Senior Analyst of ACE, presented the AEO7 modelling findings from the demand and supply side. She pointed out that the regional energy demand is foreseen to triple by 2050, and changes in various pathways of the ASEAN energy supply are dominated by fossil fuels. Various key findings of AEO7 were elaborated in detail, such as the import dependency, the significance of the interconnection grid, cost characteristics, and intersectoral nexus such as emissions and biofuel land use.

The event was followed by several questions from the audience that led to a discussion about the energy sector in Malaysia and its importance to ASEAN, including the possibility of using hydrogen and nuclear as emerging technology, the potential of carbon tax, green job, as well as the discussion on the acceleration of renewable energy and energy efficiency. As the closing, Dr Nora Yusma Mohamed Yusop, Director of IEPRe, delivered the remarks. The event was concluded with a discussion on potential follow-up research for the upcoming 8^th ASEAN Energy Outlook. The refreshment was also provided by the UNITEN committee with a networking session, allowing participants to interact, exchange ideas, and explore potential collaborations.