The World Bank has announced an additional $7.7 million grant from the International Development Association for the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) to support ASEAN Power Grid projects. This funding is part of the World Bank's Accelerating Sustainable Energy Transition Program, which totals $2.5 billion. The initial grant of $5 million was approved in September 2024.
The additional funds will be used to prepare a project facility at ACE for the ASEAN power grid under the ASEAN Vision 2020, with a target operationalization by 2045. Manuela Ferro, Regional Vice President of East Asia and Pacific Region, stated, "An integrated energy grid will increase reliability, affordability, flexibility, and resilience of power systems and leverage the region’s diverse energy sources, such as wind and solar."
This grant supports ASET MPA’s goals to boost renewable energy scale-up and promote regional power trade within ASEAN. It will fund technical studies like the ASEAN Interconnection Masterplan Study and offer transaction structuring support to bring together financiers from development partners and the private sector. Additionally, it aims to enhance ACE's capacity to facilitate regional power trade among ASEAN member states.