Asean’s energy ministers are meeting this week in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh to discuss green energy and ways to connect the power grids of Southeast Asian nations to allow electricity trading. They will focus on improving the energy efficiency of power plants and also on renewable energy sectors such as solar, wind, biomass and hydropower.
Meanwhile, proposed hydropower projects - projected to form a large part of the clean energy mix - have caused tensions among countries that share waterways such as the Mekong River because of negative environmental impacts.
Cambodia, which is hosting the Asean Ministers on Energy Meeting, is planning to add nearly 3,200 megawatts by 2020, including hydropower and 900MW of coal-powered plants.
The ministers also said they would work on promoting clean energy technology - a plan made easier by the Asia Pacific Economic Forum agreement last week to reduce tariffs on cleantech products.
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