Da Nang, Vietnam – The 26^th Renewable Energy Sub-Sector Network (RE-SSN) Meeting was held at Green Plaza Hotel, Da Nang, Vietnam on the 24 May 2019 and attended by delegates from ASEAN Member States (AMS) except Philippines, ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC), International Organizations (IOs), and Dialogue Partners (DPs) such as International Energy Agency (IEA), USAID Clean Power Asia, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Hangzhou Regional Centre (HRC), and Asian Photovoltaic Industry Association (APVIA).

During the meeting, the RE-SSN focal points addressed issues related to action plans in order to achieve a 23% RE target by 2025 with regard to the ASEAN Plan of Action on Energy Cooperation (APAEC) 2016-2025.

Whereby the APAEC is an energy blueprint, in which the impacts of the outcomes are focused on four dimensions – energy security, affordability, accessibility, and sustainability.

ASEAN Climate Change and Energy Project (ACCEPT) is an international cooperation project between the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), under the Norwegian-ASEAN Regional Integration Programme (NARIP).

One of the objectives of the project is to assess the impacts of the APAEC, and hence the research team represented by Monika Merdekawati has taken this meeting as an opportunity to share the coherent approach through this project in developing the Phase II of the APAEC.

The findings of the project will provide inputs and recommendations in improving the Phase I of the APEAC, in terms of Outcome-based Strategies (OBS) and Action Plans (AP) of the program area 5, Renewable Energy, and the synergy of climate-energy policy.

The meeting is the platform for knowledge sharing, cooperation opportunities with DPs and IOs, and discussions on achieving the aspirational RE target of 23% by 2025. Digitalization has been proposed as one of the strategies to boost the RE development in an urban area, specifically as the platform for the net metering scheme or power exchanges within the urban grid.

The SSN also had recognized the importance of climate change targets in national energy planning. The climate change target would enable the internalization of fuel-based power plant cost which at the same time would elevate the attractiveness of RE plant development.

During the meeting, RE-SSN focal points have shown their supports to the ACCEPT project. Baseline data on GHGs emissions from RE power plants specifically hydro has been raised as one of the crucial aspects to be established as part of the regional strategies in shaping climate-related energy policies. Especially considering hydropower is a dominant renewable energy source in most part of ASEAN such as Mekong areas and the archipelago of Indonesia and the Philippines.