{
  "id": 12242721,
  "title": "Asean faces widening electricity security challenges amid rising demand: IEA report",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/asean-faces-widening-electricity-security-challenges-amid-rising",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-05T22:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Business Times - Companies & Markets",
    "slug": "the-business-times-companies-markets",
    "url": "https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/energy-commodities/asean-faces-widening-electricity-security-challenges-amid-rising-demand-iea-report"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The International Energy Agency (IEA) released a report on Tuesday (Oct 6) highlighting the growing electricity security challenges in Southeast Asia due to rising demand and supply risks. The region's electricity demand is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 5.4% until 2030, driven by increasing needs in cooling, data centers, and industry.\n\nIndonesia is expected to account for approximately 40% of this growth, followed by Vietnam at 26%. However, the supply of energy remains vulnerable to fuel market fluctuations and geopolitical events. The reliance on imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal for power generation could lead to increased generation costs and higher retail tariffs until 2030.\n\nNatural gas, which contributes around one-fifth of the region's total energy supply, is anticipated to see a significant rise in demand, growing by about 18% from 2025 to 2030, or more than 30 billion cubic meters per year. This increase will primarily come from the power sector, with about 24 gigawatts of new gas-fired generation capacity being added across Southeast Asia.\n\nWhile the IEA predicts a continued growth in both fossil fuel and renewable generation, the medium-term expansion could be impacted by fuel market volatility, particularly in regions with high import dependence. The potential for scaling up alternatives like biomethane is also limited, with production unlikely to surpass 1 bcm by 2030, even under supportive policies.\n\nLow-emissions hydrogen is also not expected to see substantial commercial-scale deployment before 2030, despite strong policy interest and numerous project proposals. Despite these challenges, Southeast Asia's expanding supply of critical minerals such as nickel, cobalt, and copper positions the region as a vital source of additional supply for global clean energy technologies. The region possesses over half of the world's nickel reserves, about two-fifths of bauxite reserves, and approximately 17% of tin reserves, along with reserves of cobalt, rare earth elements, and copper. These resources are essential for energy, transportation, advanced manufacturing, electronics, and other strategic industries.\n\nHowever, the report also notes that Asean faces vulnerabilities due to supply concentration and exposure to changing trade policies. With geopolitical conflicts driving up energy and logistical costs, and global capital expenditure on critical mineral projects falling, Asean must strengthen resilience in both mineral supply and downstream industrial supply chains.",
  "summary": "Electricity demand in the region is expected to grow an average annual rate of 5.4% till 2030",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Business Times - Companies & Markets",
        "title": "Asean faces widening electricity security challenges amid rising demand: IEA report",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/asean-faces-widening-electricity-security-challenges-amid-rising-12256843",
        "published": "2026-10-05T22:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}