Three Asean markets make it to world leaderboard for renewable energy prospects

SOUTH-EAST Asia is gaining ground in global green energy, with three Asean economies making it to a list of the world's top renewable markets.

Both the Philippines and Vietnam have moved up within the top 40 markets in the latest half-yearly EY Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index - which ranks renewable energy investment and deployment opportunities - while Indonesia made the leaderboard for the first time.

Gilles Pascual, Asean power and utilities leader at professional services firm EY, which produced the index, said in a statement on Tuesday (Oct 19): "Renewable energy can be deployed quickly and provide a competitive source of electricity at a constant price. It is critical for markets in Asean to devise market solutions to provide more 'green electricity' to attract investments from corporates that demand a cleaner supply."

The Philippines was the highest-ranked South-east Asian economy in this edition - coming in at 27th place, up four spots from the previous index. EY cited the country's target of 35 per cent renewable energy by 2030, as well as an offshore wind plan released by the National Renewable Energy Board.

Vietnam rose by five spots to 29th place, buoyed by its scores for hydro, wind and solar power.

Indonesia is in 39th place, up from 46th previously, with EY pointing to"more ambitious renewables targets and positive policy developments to retire diesel and coal power plants". For instance, renewable sources will make up some 48 per cent of the 41 gigawatts (GW) of new power sources that the government plans to bring on stream in the next decade.

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Pascual also noted that a regional target to add at least 40 GW of renewable capacity by 2030 could be revised upwards after the United Nations Climate Change Conference later this month, since "ambitious national climate strategies and net-zero commitments will be expected" at the event.

Separately, the United States, mainland China and India retained their positions in the top three on the EY index, as US President Joseph Biden is expected to unveil new initiatives for the renewables industry. China and India continued to have "favourable regulatory and investment conditions".