The Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN is a political and economic organization of ten Southeast Asian countries. Formed in 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, membership has since expanded to include Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Covering more than 4.5 million square kilometres and comprising a population of more than 600 million people, ASEAN is about the size of the European Union. But these are probably the only similarities the two economic unions share.

While the EU currently has more economic power, is further developed and is a politically more integrated trade zone, when it comes to GDP growth, ASEAN, is by far the more dynamic.

For the last five years, its annual GDP growth averaged around 6%. In 2015, the organization’s combined nominal GDP had grown to more than USD 2.6 trillion.

If ASEAN were a single entity, it would rank as the seventh largest economy in the world behind the USA, China, Japan, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

With such economic growth levels expected to continue, ASEAN is fast becoming a major economic force in Asia and a driver of global growth.

Installing sufficient additional power generation capacity is one of the most pressing issues for ASEAN countries to solve. Despite the rapid economic development, many parts of ASEAN remain under-electrified – 160 million of its people still do not have access to electricity today.

For those that do, prices of grid electricity are high at 0.18 USD/kWh or more in some markets.

The insufficient power generation structures currently in ASEAN are characterised by their strong reliance on fossil sources, such as natural gas, coal and oil, and the absence of nuclear power.

ASEAN, one of the regions with the strongest growth in CO2 emissions in the last decade is also the region expected to experience some of the most harmful effects of climate change – more intensive storms, variable precipitation, a rise in sea levels, as well as more severe droughts and floods.Apricum: cumulative-pv-capacity-five-key-markets

Like many emerging economies with sizeable populations, ASEAN must solve numerous economic and energy-related challenges such as providing sufficient energy services, improving industrial productivity and reducing poverty, and on top of that, adapting to global warming.

As a result, ASEAN is increasingly turning to renewable energy.

Source: Why you should look to ASEAN now for some of the most promising renewable energy markets – Apricum – The Cleantech Advisory

About the author

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

You May Also Like

China leads in worldwide deployment of renewable energy

While China has made significant progress in renewable energy, the majority of its power still comes from fossil fuels, emphasizing the need for further transition to clean energy sources

Thailand leads ASEAN’s EV ecosystem

ASEAN countries, such as Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand, have the potential to establish themselves as thriving hubs for electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing due to their abundant resources, government incentives, and commitment to developing a regional EV ecosystem.

Thailand to impose a carbon tax on 3 sectors

Carbon tax imposed by the Excise Department should help Thailand achieve its goals of carbon neutrality by 2050 and net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2063.