In Conversation with Green Grids Rising: ASEAN’s Generation and Grid Transitions Must Move Together

ASEAN’s power systems must add renewables at pace while keeping the lights on. We spoke with Andrew Tipping, Technical Director at Economic Consulting Associates (ECA), and Bagus Mudiantoro, Managing Consultant at Castle Rock Consulting, of the ASEAN-UK Green Transition Fund’s Green Grids Rising initiative, about how to achieve both.

Generation and grid cannot be transformed separately. As ASEAN expands renewables and reduces reliance on coal, grids must absorb more solar, wind, storage and distributed resources without compromising security or affordability. “You cannot transform one without transforming the other,” Andrew explained. Bagus identified delivery as the real test: turning “whole system ambition into decisions that can be financed and delivered”.

Three Playbooks, Three Sources of Flexibility

The initiative’s three playbooks ask where flexibility will come from as coal declines: repurposing existing power plant sites, sharing reserves and ancillary services across borders through the ASEAN Power Grid, and using smart grids to unlock storage, flexible demand and distributed resources.

On smart grids, Andrew was clear the goal is not simply more technology but “service first, technology second”: identify the system problem, define the service needed, then choose the simplest way to deliver it. Bagus noted interconnectors can be flexibility assets, not just trading links, provided countries align technical standards, operating responsibilities and payment arrangements. Cooperation can start with common standards and coordinated reserve sharing, then deepen as trust grows.

Learn from Others, Don’t Copy Them

ASEAN’s diversity is a strength, not a complication. “ASEAN can share the destination without every country taking the same route,” Bagus said, which is why the playbooks offer pathways rather than prescriptions. International models should be learned from, not transplanted. Andrew added that flexibility must be planned in from the outset, since it only delivers value when markets and regulation enable it.

Success will be practical: cooperation, pilots and investment, with value “measured by what changes on the ground”.

Hear more from Green Grids Rising, a Diamond Sponsor of Future of the Grid 2026, as the three ASEAN playbooks launch on 27–28 October at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore.