The path towards meeting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) goal of securing 23 percent of its primary energy from renewable resources by 2025 is no simple feat. Based on policies that are being currently practiced and are in consideration for the future, the region’s renewable energy share in its primary mix is only slated to reach 17 percent by 2025.This leaves a 6 percent gap between target and actual rate of adoption.

ASEAN is currently facing some dilemmas on renewable energy as they have to focus on the need to deliver secure energy, grow consistently, and also develop in a sustainable way. According to a research paper from the Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy in January 2018, fossil fuel producing countries like Malaysia are looking increasingly to renewable and sustainable energy sources and particularly those that can be used in rural electrification.

Sustainable energy development is a challenge when meeting rising energy demands especially in developing economies. However, Vietnam is one ASEAN nation that is up to the task.According to the country’s National Energy Development Plan, energy demand forecasts indicate that by 2035, the total final energy demand will be more than double than levels in 2015.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has answered the clarion call for the global shift towards renewable energy, in line with the pursuit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and combatting global warming.

Microsoft announced earlier this week that it will be buying solar power from the Sunseap Group in Singapore. The deal will be their first for renewable energy in Asia. In recent years, Microsoft has been moving towards investing in renewable energy and integrating it into their systems. In 2016, Microsoft laid out their plans to transition to clean power.

Last week, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a loan of US$235 million for B.Grimm Power Public Company Limited, also known as B.Grimm Power, one of the largest power producers in Thailand.

Although Southeast Asia hopes to make renewable energy 23% of its total primary energy by 2025, at present, its energy mix still consists largely of oil, coal and natural gas, according to the 2017 Southeast Asia Energy Outlook Report. One of the ways in which Southeast Asian governments have pushed for renewable energy use within the region is through the effective implementation of strategic tax policies.

As the name suggests, isolated grids – also known as mini grids, off grids or micro grids – are standalone grids that are not connected to other power grids. They involve small scale power generation of between 10 kilowatt (kW) and 10 megawatt (MW) and are usually deployed in rural communities living in inaccessible, remote areas. Rural electrification is a potent enabler of economic growth and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region is not short of such areas.

According to a World Bank report on Lao in 2017, the country pleasantly surprised many by becoming one of the fastest growing in the region. The World Bank even ranked Lao as the 13th fastest growing economy of 2016. Bloomberg forecasted last year that the country will continue to grow, sustaining at least 7% growth until 2019.One of the contributors to the country’s rapid growth is its expanding energy segment – most notably the hydroelectric sector.

Southeast Asia has abundant energy resources but is generally slow to diversify its energy mix to include renewable energy (RE) sources, according to the ‘Renewable Energy Market Analysis – Southeast Asia’ report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). This is due in part to problems accessing adequate financing for such projects.