The Advanced Energy Partnership for Asia

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations Centre for Energy led a regional effort to update the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Interconnection Master Plan Study III to guide discussions of multilateral power trade in the region. The Advanced Energy Partnership for Asia drew on NREL's extensive power system modeling and planning experience to provide expert advisory support to the Interconnection Master Plan Study III.

To complement the AIM III study, NREL also worked with partners at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Center for Energy and the University of Minnesota to quantify changes to air quality and human health that result from different renewable integration and transmission interconnection scenarios.

Explore the reports:

Quantifying Impacts of Renewable Electricity Deployment on Air Quality and Human Health in Southeast Asia Based on the Association of Southeast Asia Nations Interconnection Masterplan Study III Scenarios, NREL Fact Sheet (2022)

Quantifying Impacts of Renewable Electricity Deployment on Air Quality and Human Health in Southeast Asia Based on Association of Southeast Asia Nations Interconnection Masterplan Study III Scenarios, NREL Technical Report (2022)

Floating solar photovoltaics (FPV) is an emerging application in which solar PV systems are sited directly on water bodies to increase renewable energy generation and energy resilience without requiring additional land use. This regional project aims to identify best practices that enable the deployment of floating solar systems in Southeast Asia and characterize how this emerging technology could potentially complement existing hydropower generation in the region.

As part of this project, the NREL team used existing data on waterbodies, infrastructure, and energy resources to determine which waterbodies showed the highest potential for FPV development. To support developers, policymakers, and other regional stakeholders, this technical potential data has been made available through the RE Data Explorer tool.

"Among the four essential data required for successful FPV development, site location stands out as one of the most critical factors to consider due to geographic variations in Southeast Asian countries." —Chatchai Mawong, assistant governor of power plant engineering and construction at the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand

Explore resources about floating PV in Southeast Asia:

Enabling FPV Deployment: FPV Technical Potential Assessment for Southeast Asia, NREL Technical Report (2023)

Enabling FPV Deployment: Policy and Operational Considerations, NREL Presentation (2022)

Enabling FPV Deployment: Exploring the Operational Benefits of Floating Solar-Hydropower Hybrids, NREL Technical Report (2022)

Enabling FPV Deployment: Review of Barriers to FPV Deployment in Southeast Asia, NREL Technical Report (2021)

The Renewable Energy Data Explorer supports the collection, development, and open dissemination of critical renewable resource data sets and allows for visualization and analysis to inform key decisions and support project pre-feasibility studies. Free, publicly available, data that has high temporal and spatial resolution lowers the barrier for users to compare clean energy options with conventional choices—leveling the playing field for renewable energy and ensuring that decision makers can identify the least-cost option that achieves their goals.

To date, the Advanced Energy Partnership for Asia supported the development of wind resource data with a 3-km spatial and 15-minute temporal resolution, 2-km spatial and 10-minute temporal resolution solar resource data, and technical potential data for siting solar PV on waterbodies. All datasets can be accessed through the RE Data Explorer.

"We have helped provide 24/7 100% renewable electricity access to more than 3,000 people. RE Data Explorer, in conjunction with the System Advisor Model, has been very helpful with solar insolation modeling for our unique technology." —Oscar Aitchison, Okra Solar

Learn more about these data sets:

Wind Resource Data for Southeast Asia Using a Hybrid Numerical Weather Prediction With Machine Learning Super Resolution Approach, NREL Technical Report (2023)

High-Resolution Southeast Asia Wind Resource Data Set, NREL Fact Sheet (2023)

High Fidelity Solar Irradiance Data: Simple Access to State-of-the-Art Information Accelerates Southeast Asia's Clean Energy Economic Transformation, NREL Fact Sheet (2022)

When in-person travel came to an abrupt halt due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Advanced Energy Partnership for Asia pivoted to converting capacity-building programs into 6-week virtual courses where new video trainings were released each week and participants joined biweekly live discussions with the presenters.

"I have applied the knowledge from the tariff-setting course to the current tariff-setting procedures for EVs in Thailand. Your materials are used as the basis/references for our work." —Chanchai Amornvipas, The Office of Energy Regulatory Commission, Thailand

Watch the Advanced Energy Partnership for Asia courses on NREL's YouTube Learning Channel:

Enhanced Load Modeling and Demand Forecasting for Southeast Asia

Electric Vehicle Deployment Fundamentals for Southeast Asia

Beyond comprehensive virtual courses, the Advanced Energy Partnership for Asia also hosted a no-cost, virtual training series that shared cutting-edge approaches to enable competitive markets for clean energy technologies across Southeast Asia. View the Power Sector Learning Series webinars.