The new tool gives policymakers, utilities and financiers a transparent, technically robust way to see what an integrated Asean Power Grid would look like in practice, before they spend billions on concrete and cables, suggested climate tech nonprofit TransitionZero.

The Asian Development Bank’s initial funding aims to de-risk cross-border grid projects and revive Asean’s long-delayed integration plan, despite ongoing technical and financial challenges.

The bloc, whose energy demand is expected to nearly double by 2040, has been pursuing power grid integration since 1997 but technical and financial barriers have hampered progress. A new financing pact aims to change this.

EB Studio A connected grid will help each country avoid bearing the burden of building power for itself – forcing low-cost decisions that might not be climate-friendly, says a representative from GE Vernova. Energy leaders at Enlit Asia 2025 pushed for the setting up of an interim energy exchange to allow power trading while regulatory arrangements catch up.