Sunny Southeast Asia has made great strides in solar energy in recent years, with ASEAN countries now having more than 20GW of solar farm capacity.
Despite rapid growth and ambitious renewable energy targets, countries in the region face challenges including supply chain disruptions, political unrest, anti-dumping tariffs, and domestic instability.
Cambodia’s installed solar power capacity, which accounts for only 7% of the country’s energy capacity, has become the fastest growing energy source, growing by more than 14% by 2023.
Cambodia aims to achieve 70% renewable energy generation by 2030, with hydropower expected to contribute 55%. Current installed solar capacity is 432MW, which is expected to more than double to 1GW by 2030 and reach 3.2GW by 2040.
The country currently operates eight small solar farms, ranging from 5-80MW each, with three more under construction and three more planned, the largest of which is a 225MW farm in Kampong Speu province.
While Cambodia plans to expand investment in large-scale solar farms, growth in small rooftop and commercial and industrial solar has been slow due to policy challenges.
Meanwhile, despite recent regulatory reforms aimed at replacing capacity charges with new tariffs to boost rooftop solar initiatives, net metering and net billing for solar power are currently prohibited in the country.
Despite plans to become carbon neutral by 2050, Cambodia has experienced severe power shortages in recent years, affecting up to 43% of businesses. Rooftop solar could provide solutions for industry and help transform the lives of residents in 245 villages that are not yet connected.
Chinese companies are playing a key role in Cambodia's solar development. In 2018, Hengtong Optics won the construction rights for the country's second largest solar farm, which has a capacity of 200MW. In addition, late last year, China Datang Group announced an investment of $600 million in solar and wind projects in Cambodia.
Solar PV has a long history in Indonesia, dating back to the 1980s, when it was considered a regional pioneer. Despite slow progress initially, the pace of development has recovered in recent years.
In 2021, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) of Indonesia identified a potential market of 3,294GW for domestic solar development. The government has set ambitious development targets: 3.61GW of rooftop solar power by 2025, 26.65GW of power generation by 2030, and 4.68GW of power generation from large-scale solar power plants.
But as of December 2023, domestic rooftop solar in Indonesia reached only 140MW, far below the national target. According to Global Energy Monitor, large-scale solar power generation was 21MW, ranking eighth among 11 ASEAN countries.
Despite the challenges, Indonesia launched the Cirata floating solar power plant in West Java at the end of 2023 with a capacity of 192MW. It is the largest floating solar power plant in Southeast Asia and the third largest in the world, a partnership between Indonesia’s state-owned PLN and Abu Dhabi-based Masdar.
In January 2024, MEMR revised solar grid connection regulations, removing capacity limits for rooftop systems while implementing a quota system overseen by the ministry for delivering electricity to the PLN grid.
Laos has abundant sunshine and huge potential for solar market development. However, hydropower still dominates the renewable energy sector, accounting for about 73% of electricity generation. As of 2023, solar power in Laos will account for less than 1% of the energy mix.
The Lao government has set ambitious goals to diversify its renewable energy portfolio. As part of a broader strategy to reduce its reliance on hydropower and strengthen energy security, Laos aims to achieve a total installed capacity of 1GW of solar and wind power by 2030. However, current progress forecasts indicate that it is expected to fall far short of this goal.
In 2017, Laos opened its first solar power plant with a capacity of 10MW in Vientiane, marking a milestone in its renewable energy journey. Building on its initial success, Laos launched its largest solar project to date in 2022, building on a 50MW solar project. Reports show that there are currently eight small solar power plants in operation in Laos, indicating that solar infrastructure is slowly but steadily expanding.
However, a report from Global Energy Monitor shows that the total solar power capacity currently in operation in Laos may not be as large as these project plans indicate.
But despite this, some important projects are in the pipeline: a 64MW solar plant is currently under construction, and a massive 240MW floating solar farm from French energy giant EDF is in the pre-construction stage.
These large-scale projects are critical to significantly increasing Laos’ solar power capacity and moving toward a sustainable energy future, even though they have yet to contribute to the national grid. The contrast between plants in operation and those under construction highlights the evolving nature of Laos’ commitment to expanding solar capacity. Challenges such as inadequate infrastructure, limited investment and regulatory hurdles are significant barriers.
To attract more investment, the government has introduced measures such as exemptions from import tariffs on capital machinery and equipment to help make projects more financially accessible. But Laos will also need to build on this and implement policies that promote the adoption of feed-in tariffs to make solar more attractive to investors and energy producers.
In 2020, Myanmar tendered 29 ground-mounted solar projects, 28 of which were awarded to Chinese companies, with a total installed capacity of 1.06GW.
However, after the military took over power in February 2021, all tenders in the war-torn country were cancelled by 2022, with only three projects at any stage of development.
Solar and wind account for only 1% of Myanmar's domestic energy production, with ground-mounted solar accounting for 192MW, according to a 2023 World Bank report. Myanmar has the lowest electrification rate in Southeast Asia, with less than half of the population having access to a public grid and most factories experiencing frequent power outages. The World Bank's Myanmar Business Survey found that as of December 2022, 22% of Myanmar businesses had invested in off-grid power systems such as solar.
The military government is struggling with persistent power shortages and rising gas costs, and local businesses have turned to solar to fill the gap. Despite difficulties importing solar products, Myanmar's solar industry grew more than 10 times between 2022 and 2023.
In addition, ground-mounted solar projects in Myanmar are also being planned. At the end of last year, China and the Myanmar military government signed a power purchase agreement for three solar projects developed by China Power Resources, with a total installed capacity of 90MW. Under the military government, Myanmar's energy sector remained under strict military control.
The Philippines, along with Vietnam, has been named an emerging global leader in solar and wind energy by Global Energy Monitor. The country has 2.3GW of operational large-scale solar power generation capacity.
According to its National Renewable Energy Plan 2020-2040, the Philippines will add 52.83GW of renewable energy capacity by 2040, of which solar will account for 27.16GW. Of this, the Philippine government plans to add nearly 2GW of solar capacity this year as part of its plan to achieve 4.16GW of renewable energy power generation projects completed by 2024.
With progressive auctions, feed-in tariffs, net metering programs and tax incentives, the Philippines is ranked as the fourth most attractive emerging market for renewable energy. Another advantage is that the private sector dominates the market, unlike neighboring countries such as Indonesia, where state-owned entities dominate. This diversified resource allocation method can facilitate a smoother development process for solar projects.
With strong domestic production capacity and a commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, Thailand's Power Development Plan (PDP 2018-2037) plans to achieve a total solar capacity of 15.6GW by 2035. Thanks to accommodative domestic policies, Thailand's PV installations have grown at a compound annual growth rate of more than 20% since 2012, with an installed solar capacity of about 4.96GW by the end of 2023.
Solar will account for about half of the 29.4GW capacity allocated to renewable energy in Thailand's PDP by 2036, according to the plan. Thailand is one of the largest solar production capacity countries in Southeast Asia, second only to Vietnam.
After the United States imposed anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese solar panels, Thailand became a manufacturing hub, especially in the Eastern Economic Corridor, although most of the products are for export. The recent tariff adjustment prompted some manufacturers in Thailand and Vietnam to announce temporary suspensions of production.
Innovative projects such as the world's largest hydro-powered floating solar project at Sirindhorn Dam, which has been in operation in Ubon Ratchathani since 2022, show Thailand's reliance on solar energy. The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) Sirindhorn Dam project only generates 45MW, but Egat plans to build 15 more floating solar farms in Thailand, with a total capacity of 2,750MW.
In recent years, Thailand's plans to expand rooftop solar power have been hampered by the country's slow net metering system (net metering is a system in which solar power is sold into the grid transmission lines). As of last year, plans for a new net metering scheme were shelved due to some legal and technical problems found by the Thai Ministry of Energy.
Vietnam has emerged as a leader in solar energy in Southeast Asia, driven by favorable government policies and significant private sector investment. With more than 18.4GW of installed solar capacity by 2023, Vietnam is the largest solar market in Southeast Asia and has double the installed capacity of all other ASEAN countries combined.
The country’s solar expansion is largely due to effective government measures such as attractive feed-in tariffs and a robust net metering system. Although the previous auction program has expired, Vietnam has launched a pilot program to promote bilateral power purchase agreements (PPAs) in an effort to strengthen market competition and sustain growth in the solar industry.
Under Vietnam’s eighth national power development plan (PDP VIII), the country aims to add 2.6GW of rooftop solar capacity by 2030 as part of its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen energy security. Looking ahead to 2050, Vietnam has set a total solar capacity of 170GW, accounting for 33% of total electricity generation. Projects such as the 450MW Trung Nam Thuan Nam solar power plant and the 600MW Dau Tieng solar complex are key to achieving this goal.
Despite the initial success, outdated and inadequate grid infrastructure has created transmission and distribution challenges, leading to grid congestion and power abandonment, which requires continued investment. Currently, the Vietnamese government's positive measures include expanding the grid and optimizing regulations to ensure effective renewable energy integration.
Vietnam's solar development has attracted international attention and has received significant investment from global development institutions such as the Asian Development Bank. These investments are critical to maintaining momentum and achieving the country's renewable energy goals.
Source：https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/v2BodiWC64F2cGaEqMkgsQ
