Iran war drives South-East Asia towards renewables but investment falls short
The liquefied natural gas shock caused by the Iran war is pushing South-East Asia towards solar and wind power, but the region has lined up less than a third of the energy storage it needs by 2030, a report has found. South-East Asia's current pipeline of utility-scale storage projects of about 7GW, expected to be operational by 2030, covers less than a third of the 23 to 26GW needed to support…
The Iran war-driven LNG shortage is accelerating South-East Asia's shift towards renewables, but the region is falling short of its energy storage targets, according to a report by energy think tank Ember. Currently, South-East Asia's pipeline of utility-scale storage projects amounts to only about 7GW, far below the 23-26GW needed to meet its renewable energy goals by 2030.
The financing bottleneck has shifted from raising capital to creating bankable assets, with large renewable projects yet to extend financing models to storage and grid integration. Despite large solar farms attracting commercial financing, battery storage, smaller renewable installations, and transmission lines remain less appealing to investors.
Investment in South-East Asia's energy transition is currently insufficient, falling short of the $281 billion annually required by 2035, as electricity demand is projected to grow by 5.4% annually through 2030.
Brief written by urgent.news from The National Business's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
