Southeast Asia's power demand to increase threefold by 2030, report says

SINGAPORE — Southeast Asia's power demand from green industrial parks, data centres and electric vehicles is expected to increase threefold to more than 100 terawatts per hour in the next three to four years, according to a report published by Bain & Company and Standard Chartered.

The demand from these sectors is expected to require more than US$200 billion (S$255.8 billion) of investments, according to the 2026 Southeast Asia's Green Economy Report

More than half of this investment will go to data centres with almost all operators willing to pay a premium to avoid grid connection delays

Southeast Asia's green economy is currently valued at US$290 billion and on track to reach US$430 billion by 2030

However, only around 60 per cent of the US$540 billion in green spending announced across the region's power and EV value chains between now and 2030 is on a credible path to deployment under current conditions

About 50-60 per cent of renewable energy projects in Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia have been cancelled in the last five years due to system constraints including unclear power purchase agreement structures, permitting, and grid connection rules

Southeast Asia's power demand growth is expected to exceed the pace of grid upgrades, as there is an estimated US$18 billion annual shortfall in grid investments by 2035

Also, rules of the green economy have changed due to structural shifts globally with security and growth taking priority over sustainability.

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