MALAYSIA TO FOCUS ON REALISING ASEAN POWER GRID, IMPROVE ENERGY EXCHANGE PROGRAMME -- FADILLAH

LONDON, April 24 (Bernama) -- Malaysia, as the ASEAN chair in 2025, will focus on realising the ASEAN Power Grid and improving the energy exchange programme among member states, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

He said that realising the power grid will improve energy security, accessibility and affordability not only within Malaysia but also among other ASEAN member states.

Fadillah, who is also the Energy Transition and Transformation Minister, said one of the issues regarding energy supply among ASEAN countries is that there are instances where a member state has extra power but cannot export the surplus.

“We are chairing ASEAN this year, so our focus will be on the ASEAN Power Grid. Within the ASEAN region, we need to support each other.

“So our focus this year is to come up with regulations and also study from other countries how we can improve the energy exchange programme among the (ASEAN) member states,” he said at the “A Whole-of-System Approach-Addressing the Energy Trilemma” panel discussion held during the Summit on the Future of Energy Security event at the Lancaster House, here today.

The topic was discussed during Plenary Session 1, titled “Mapping the Energy Security Landscape-Defining a Holistic Approach of the Summit”.

Among the other panellists were Spanish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge Sara Aagesen Munoz, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Affairs and Minister Hayyan Abdel-Ghani, Egyptian Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Karim Badawi, as well as Colombia’s Mines and Energy Minister, Edwin Palma Egea.

Fadillah elaborated that by focusing on the power grid, ASEAN will be able to achieve energy security and affordability in terms of the electricity supply through cooperation among all the member states.

“We also will be able to contribute towards our commitment to clean energy for future generations,” the deputy prime minister said.

Fadillah added that Malaysia updated its energy policy by introducing the National Energy Transformation Roadmap (NETR), which focused on ensuring Malaysia has a secure electricity supply countrywide and also contributing to the region’s energy security.

The deputy minister highlighted that cooperation within the region is also one of the focus areas Malaysia is exploring in terms of commitment to the energy trilemma of balancing sustainability, security, and affordability.

“In order to do that, we formed an implementation and planning committee for electricity at a high level between agencies and ministries that would decide in terms of planning the energy requirement and what the energy mix for the future would be,” he said.

The two-day Summit on the Future of Energy Security that kicked off today was organised by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the United Kingdom (UK) government and will see global decision-makers convene to advance actions to map and mould the future of energy security.

-- BERNAMA