Asia-Pacific’s energy security: The engineering is ready; the regulatory infrastructure must follow

FOR decades, the energy model that powered Asia’s rise was built on a simple logic: Access equals security. Access to globally traded fuels, competitive pricing, deep supply chains. It worked. It drove industrialisation across South-east Asia.

That logic is now being challenged. The world it was designed for has fundamentally changed.

The stress showing up across the Asia-Pacific today is a convergence, several forces arriving at once. Global electricity demand grew 4.4 per cent in 2024 and 3 per cent in 2025, and is forecast to rise a further 3.6 per cent annually through 2030.