Asia Pacific Needs Stronger Grid, Clean Energy Push Amid Rising Consumption - APSEC

From Harizah Hanim Mohamed

BUSAN, Aug 28 (Bernama) – The Asia-Pacific region is experiencing new patterns of electricity consumption that require collaboration in areas such as demand response, energy efficiency improvements, and the implementation of distributed energy technologies.

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Sustainable Energy Center (APSEC) president Li Zhu said this cooperation would help optimise resource allocation and promote green consumption.

“Efforts should also be made to advance the replacement of fossil fuels with clean electricity across multiple sectors, and to jointly achieve high penetration of advanced technologies in various industries,” she said in her themed presentation at the 15th APEC Energy Ministerial Meeting held earlier today.

The second thematic session focused on the importance of grid stabilisation as a prerequisite for effective integration.

APSEC, established as part of the Chinese government’s active response to APEC leaders’ “Asia-Pacific Urbanisation Partnership Initiative”, plays an important role in promoting sustainable energy in the region.

The APEC EMM is a ministerial-level meeting under APEC and a continuation of the previous session held in Lima, Peru, last year.

Among the key agenda items are discussions on policies and initiatives in the energy sector, as well as efforts to promote cooperation and investment among APEC economies.

South Korea is hosting this year’s meeting under the theme “Accelerating Sustainable, Affordable, Reliable, Secure and Innovative Energy for a Prosperous Future”.

Li added that the foundation of a clean power system is still weak, with traditional fossil fuels continuing to dominate.

“Despite a significant increase in the proportion of renewables, in 2023, fossil fuels still accounted for 62.4 per cent of electricity generation and remain the main power source in most economies.

“Due to the delayed upgrading of existing infrastructure and insufficient energy storage facilities, renewable energy development in some emerging economies is still in its early stages, and the system support capacity is not sufficient to ensure a reliable alternative to fossil energy,” she said.

Power grid loss and ageing infrastructure constrain system efficiency, while ageing distribution networks and weak rural power systems restrict efficient grid connection of renewables and high-quality transmission, said Li.

Thus, APSEC proposed that efforts be made to carry out energy storage cooperation in regions with rapid renewable energy development, in line with the generation and load characteristics of individual economies. This, she said, would help enhance system-level capabilities in power supply security and renewable energy absorption.

“The ‘Source-Grid-Load-Storage’ integrated new-type power system is in a rapid development stage, and requires the application of innovative technologies such as hydrogen energy and artificial intelligence (AI),” said Li.

APSEC also encouraged APEC economies to carry out research and development (R&D) cooperation in emerging energy technologies such as hydrogen and smart energy, to accelerate technology development and large-scale application.

“Through joint R&D, experience sharing, and other means, we can jointly reduce the research and application costs of key technologies and achieve technological inclusiveness,” she added.

-- BERNAMA