KUCHING: Borneo’s grid could become the spark for ASEAN’s long-delayed power integration, as energy leaders at SAREF 4.0 urged governments to shift from planning to delivery on regional connectivity.
The panel session ‘Accelerating Regional Energy Connectivity’ at the Sustainability and Renewable Energy Forum (SAREF) 4.0 discussed how linking ASEAN’s power systems could strengthen supply, reduce costs and accelerate the shift to renewables.
The case for ASEAN power integration
Moderated by ASEAN Centre for Energy Executive Director Datuk Abdul Razib Dawood, he said that the ASEAN Power Grid has long promised gains in security, reliability and affordability, alongside climate benefits and blackout prevention that protect economies.
“The list of benefits and impact is not only huge, it is massive. We aspire to be the fourth largest economy in the world by 2035 with GDP growth of four to eight per cent.
“The ASEAN Power Grid is an enabler for energy transition and economic efficiency, but the question remains, why are we still talking after so many decades?”
Borneo’s pivotal role
Sarawak’s geography and grid progress place Borneo at the centre of ASEAN connectivity.
Sarawak Energy’s senior vice president for Strategy and Corporate Development, Dr Chen Shiun, said the decade-old West Kalimantan–Sarawak interconnection has already proven its value and that links with Sabah and Brunei are the next steps.
“Once it is interconnected, once the electrons start to flow, the values and the benefits will show itself. This opens the door for us to develop a single unified Borneo grid, strong and resilient enough to underpin the ASEAN Power Grid,” he said.
He said planning horizons now extend 20 to 25 years to support multiple interconnections and a modern grid fit for ASEAN ambitions.
“I always challenge my planners, you do not look just to solve the problem that we can see in front of us over the next 10 years, but try to see beyond for the next 20 and 25 years what opportunity there is,” he said.
He also linked Sarawak Energy’s collaboration with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to greater confidence for large-scale cross-border projects, while stressing that power sharing is more than a commercial swap.
“With multilateral development banks or monetary funding agencies like ADB together with us giving us assurance and confidence, they will go a long way to give us assurance of the direction.
“This is not just a trading of energy or exchange of electrons. These are sharing of precious energy resources and it is more than just a business deal,” he added, calling for national governments to show alignment and goodwill.
While emphasising that talent is part of the execution plan, Chen said Sarawak is creating opportunities to draw back its diaspora and technical talent to deliver the grid build-out.
“We have been very much aligned with the government in bringing back our talent. I think we have brought back a few hundred people,” he said, noting that a stronger regional vision will attract more professionals to return and help grow the economy.
Sabah’s grid ambitions
Meanwhile, Sabah is gearing up its institutions and network to support cross-border trade.
According to Sabah Energy Commission deputy CEO Magdalene Chu Wai Quan, its Energy Commission formed after regulatory powers were devolved from the federal to the state level, is focused on security, reliability and reserve margins while building towards multilateral power trade.
“We are focusing on energy security, reliability and sustainability of supply and especially to ensure the reserve margin is sufficient for economic development,” she said, adding that cross-border interconnection is a key strategy in Sabah’s Energy Roadmap and Master Plan 2040.
She said that two Sabah interconnectors are being scoped, with readiness tied to domestic grid upgrades.
She pointed out that the shortest route to the Philippines runs from Kudat to Palawan but capacity is constrained by the present system and will hinge on future load, transmission upgrades and a clear business case.
“There is about 400 megawatt of wind potential in northern Sabah, and if we upgrade the grid, we can actually export this excess,” she said
She added that a Sabah–Mindanao link depends on the southern transmission link being in place first.
“We have to strengthen the power clusters, and the domestic grid has to be completed before we can actually go for the cross-border interconnections. A link to North Kalimantan would also draw from the same southern backbone.”
Scaling up to regional connectivity
Scaling from today’s small transfers to a regional system requires political will, a driving organisation and an agreed technical vision.
Mott MacDonald’s Group head of Strategy and the United Kingdom Clean Power Commissioner, Dr Simon Harrison, said ASEAN must lift ambition from roughly 200 megawatts of cross-border transfers to targets closer to 20 gigawatts.
“Above all, what that means is political will. Without a driving organisation accountable to political leaders, we risk projects being built in the wrong place and in the wrong shape,” he said.
He further said that procurement and supply chains need a front-foot approach to unlock delivery.
Harrison shared that the equipment market has flipped in favour of suppliers, so risk allocation and volume commitments must be designed to attract capacity.
“We have to go to the supply chain with a risk allocation it is comfortable with, with volumes that are interesting to it. That is going to need some commercial innovation,” he said, citing the UK’s move to allow bulk purchases of high-voltage DC equipment ahead of project finalisation and the opportunity for suppliers to add manufacturing capacity in the region.
He added that early regulatory steps can reduce delays while the wider framework is still being developed.
He said that the grid codes and technical standards are quick wins that countries can agree on, with Borneo serving as a practical pilot.
“The Borneo grid is the kernel from which we can build the ASEAN grid,” he said, urging that it be sized and structured as a test bed to build experience and the regulatory environment the wider grid will need.
Trends shaping urgency
Macro trends are tightening the timeline for integration.
Economist Impact’s manager for Policy and Insights, Ritu Bhandari, said industrial growth, the rise of data centres and shifting geopolitics are driving ASEAN towards regional energy self-reliance.
“ASEAN countries want to rely on energy sources which are within the region. It is no more about sustainability and environment but also very much about security. When something happens in a faraway country, your prices get impacted if you are sitting in this region,” she said.
As climate impacts and investor expectations are raising the bar for interconnected renewables, she said droughts and weather changes can disrupt hydro, solar and wind, making cross-border balancing a resilience tool. She added that supply will depend on three essentials.
“The first is having interconnected infrastructure, second is the right regulations and harmonisation of regulations and third is investments and being able to reduce those investments,” she said.
Financing, she noted, will flow if political and regulatory risks are reduced.
ASEAN’s openness and neutrality already make it attractive to investors, with traditional capital sources joined by Gulf sovereign funds and institutional investors from within the region.
“For the private sector, the two key barriers are political and regulatory risk. De-risking their investments, both from a regulatory and political perspective, is really important.”
The road ahead
Panellists agreed on the main bottleneck and the order in which it must be tackled.
Harrison said strong commitment from leaders is the starting point.
“The single most important thing is the political will. If you have the political will, the regulatory alignment will come, then the financing will come,” he said, adding that visible support from multilaterals can reinforce momentum.
Investors also look to regulators for consistent signals.
Chu said Sabah’s focus is to provide clarity and consistency while working with other regulators to harmonise codes at a minimum level that allows cross-border operations.
“We need to provide that clear clarity to the investors, and working together as regulators, that is very important,” she said.
On a question about an ASEAN-wide independent regulator, Bhandari pointed to Europe’s Third Energy Package and unbundling as one approach, and the Southern African Power Pool’s voluntary MOU-based model as another.
“What ASEAN definitely needs is a clear set of rules for all the different stakeholders and countries,” she said.
Harrison said delivery over the next five years depends on building where the political will already exists and ensuring that early interconnectors are designed for a future ASEAN grid.
“We pick up the procurement nettle and we really grasp it. Without that, game’s over, really. We cannot buy anything,” he said.
Borneo’s progress could serve as a demonstration for the rest of the region.
Chen said a unified Borneo grid can showcase the value of cooperation and prove that different development stages do not prevent joint progress.
“Within the next five years, we can demonstrate to the greater part of ASEAN that if we come together, we can actually progress a lot further together,” he said.
