Asia Reassesses Energy Transition Strategies, Accelerates Digital Transformation

Economic and social developments present grid modernization and expansion opportunities in Asia.

Bangkok, Thailand – Grid resilience and renewable energy integration remain core investment areas in Asia as the region continues to increase its power grid capacity to support surging energy demand created by industrialization and economic developments.

“Asia’s power leaders are reassessing theirr energy transition strategies in view of the ongoing global pandemic. While decarbonization and decentralization expand the complexity of the grid across business models, engineering and technology, they are also presenting opportunities for the regional power sector,” says Adrian Tan, newly-appointed Vice President for Sales & Marketing for Black & Veatch, Power Business Asia.

Tan identifies the key opportunities for Asia’s power sector:

Integrated power infrastructures continue to meet Asia’s electrification demands

Asia’s power leaders are continuing to invest in integrated power infrastructures to re-balance their energy portfolios to meet universal electrification and carbon emission reduction targets. Integrated power infrastructures take advantage of different generation, transmission and distribution technologies to help utilities overcome the pitfalls of aging infrastructure while meeting rising customer demand for energy that is sustainable and reliable. The opportunity is to tap into distributed generation, like microgrids, and rooftop solar to achieve remote electrification and sustainability targets in archipelagic countries, like Indonesia and Philippines.

Battery Energy Storage Systems increases grid stability, enhances Asia’s energy security

Regional power leaders are enhancing energy security by diversifying fuel and primary energy sources used for power generation. One energy source the region is investing in is renewable energy. The opportunity is to balance variable renewable energy generation with Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and larger transmission capacities to stabilize the grid.

Asia power sector accelerates digital transformation adoption

Regional governments are turning to digital technology and smart grids to optimize the impact of individual technologies in integrated power infrastructure. Digital transformations present opportunities to address core challenges of grid stabilization, peak load management, system flexibility and reliability in a holistic manner.

Smart grids help to integrate renewable generation into the grid and manage supply and demand.

Predictive asset maintenance allows plant operators to predict the state of the equipment so that maintenance can be scheduled. Forecasting and real-time monitoring address sustainability and reliability issues of power grids, while mitigating costly outages and other equipment failures.

Tan joins Black & Veatch with over 20 years of sales, engineering and operations experience in the Power industry globally. As Vice President, Sales & Marketing for Asia Power Business in Black & Veatch, Tan is responsible for delivering solutions to clients across the full range of EPC services in conventional, renewable, and distributed power generation, transmission and distribution, microgrids, and behind-the-meter services. Tan is based in Bangkok.