Asia's renewable energy case strengthens amid Middle East conflict: experts

Asia's energy transition has become an urgent economic and security imperative as the ongoing Middle East conflict exposes the vulnerability of the fossil fuel-dependent nations, energy experts said March 12.

Market disruption and price volatility are making the case for a reassessment of energy security and policies, experts said at a press briefing organized by Global Strategic Communications Council.

"A lot of these problems could have been avoided if many Asian countries had switched faster to renewables," said Ramnath Iyer, sustainable finance lead of Asia, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, referring to fuel shortages and rising costs.

"[Asian] policymakers, really have every incentive at this point in time to accelerate the move toward renewables ... and to make more ambitious plans to switch to renewables," Iyer said.

Iyer said the renewables supply chain is significantly less affected than the fossil fuel supply chain, owing to one-time investments and to the current lower prices of solar and wind compared with natural gas.

Growing economies

Asia is home to two of the fastest-growing renewable energy markets – India and China -- but rapidly rising energy demand owing to growing economies has made them rely on fossil fuels alongside renewables, proving to be a challenge for energy transition.

Speaking of Pakistan, Nabiya Imran, associate on energy insights at Renewables First said LNG contributed to around 20% of the country's power mix in fiscal 2025, but mainly for the nighttime or evening peak, because daytime demand has been largely displaced by solar.

"Pakistan presents an example or a case study where the ... consumer-led adoption of solar has provided a cushioning effect against geopolitical shocks," Imran said. "It gives a practical example as to why it's not just an economic sense to adopt renewables, it's also a matter of energy security."

Widening disparity

If oil and gas volatility persists, there may be a widening gap between the more developed Asian nations and emerging economies, said Dinita Setyawati, senior energy analyst at Ember.

"In Thailand's case, looking at the projections by 2037, expanding solar and battery capacity could further unlock $1.8 billion savings from the fuel cost from gas," Setyawati said.

"The changes in energy prices might not capture the full extent of inflation, but reducing import dependence could really make the countries stabilize their economic growth."

Asia has the potential to increase energy independence and energy security by using local indigenous renewable energy resources and could channelize surplus renewable energy for trade in ASEAN, the experts said.

Building diverse assets

Asian companies are seen developing diverse renewable energy assets including environment friendly fuels such as renewable hydrogen and ammonia, with the expectation that the clean fuels market will reach a commercial phase in 2030 or ahead of it.

Singapore's Equator Renewables Asia has raised S$50 million ($39 million) to accelerate development of solar and renewable hydrogen projects across Indonesia, innovative solar, storage, and cross-border transmission a spokesperson said on March 12.

"The World Bank already identified a lot of wind corridors in the Philippines, putting potential offshore wind capacity at 60 GW all over the country," said Gaspar Escobar Jr., grid modernization advisor of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities.

Escobar questioned how an LNG-based power plant using imported fuel could remain competitive in a market driven by price-based selection, given its higher generation costs.

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed I-REC Singapore solar current year at $22.63/MWh March 13, up 7.86% month over month.