22 ENERGY
@ green | November-December , 2021
Strategising PV
in Southeast Asia
New setbacks have emerged in the PV sector due to pandemic
BY FATIHAH MANAF
PHOTOVOLTAIC ( PV ) PLAYS a leading role in Southeast Asia ’ s fast-growing and dynamic markets ( SEA ). Countries in this region are rebuilding their economy and actively migrating towards green energy . However , the pandemic has left the PV industry with a new set of challenges , such as the temporary price spike and difficulties in the supply chain , which may affect SEA ’ s energy transition .
Global Solar Council held a Solar International Dialogue of Southeast Asia to address the situation of PV markets in SEA . The event was hosted by Asian Photovoltaic Industry Association ( APVIA ). It featured presentations and a discussion from PV experts and stakeholders in SEA , covering the topics of policy , education , project management , technical aspects and finance .
During the virtual event , the participants were also engaged in a panel discussion titled ‘” Strategising PV in SEA - Next Chapter ”, moderated by Frank Haugwitz from Asia Europe Clean Energy Advisory ( AECEA ), China .
Septia Buntara , a manager at the ASEAN Centre for Energy ( ACE ), said the centre ’ s ASEAN Energy Outlook data collection was challenging . The 6th ASEAN Energy Outlook provided the public with an overview of the current energy landscape and possible scenarios for policymakers and other stakeholders . He revealed that the data was obtained from official submissions by member states .
“ The standardisation of the data is quite different from one country to another country . The data is not the latest one that we can get . For example , we launched it in 2020 , but the data comes from 2017 ,” said Septia .
However , he shared that , moving forward , the centre aimed to improve its method and establish ASEAN Energy
Database System , a system that any stakeholder can directly update .
Strategies in PV industry
Dr Nguyen Thi Anh Phuong , the Chief Executive Officer of Tona Syntegra Solar , Vietnam , argued that every strategy needed a milestone . Whilst the Vietnamese government might have made the right decision to introduce a feed-in tariff ( FiT ) mechanism in the country , its long-term energy plan lacks the regulations to manage the milestones .
Apart from the milestones , she said the mindset of sustainable development was not brought into the strategic development . She emphasised the need to look at other aspects other than profitability in developing any projects .
“ For the long-term planning , we should look into how we can integrate more VRE ( variable renewable energy ). For example , using some market design flexibility , improve some infrastructure from the grid and also talk deeper into the flexibility option from the existing coal and gas power plant ,” said Dr Tharinya Supasa , the Project Lead at Agora Energiewende .
Prof Armin Aberle from the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore said the focus now was to act quickly on creating local jobs . He then explained that solar could be installed in various ways , including water and agricultural land .
“ You may get a win-win situation . The farmer gets electricity and food . At the end
of the day , like it or not , it has to make money ,” said Aberle .
“ To get out of Covid-19 , we need to create millions of new jobs .”
Dynamics of Solar PV development
Dr Worajit Sethhapun , the Dean of the Asian Development College for Community Economy and Technology ( adiCET ) at Chiang Mai Rajabhat University , Thailand , shared that the changes in solar development happened very quickly .
“ In our curriculum , we usually tie in both the basics and the application . For the application , my students will attend conferences to understand the trend . We then come back and talk together about the different ways of different applications , and they will do their research as well ,” explained Worajit .
She agreed that the younger generation still needs to be provided with more understanding of energy generation . She shared that many of them were unaware that most of the electricity was generated from fossil fuel .
“ Usually , when I teach , my first question would be ‘ do you know where electricity comes from ?’ and some of my students say from the dam . But , in Thailand , less than five per cent of electricity is coming from hydro ,” she added .
Touching on agrivoltaics , she shared the successful experience of her students growing plants in an existing solar farm . However , she believed that the agricultural part needed to be planned way earlier to be more economical and easier for the farmers .
Aberle then shared that urban vertical farming , powered by renewable energy , was happening in Singapore as the country aimed to become more independent in almost everything , including food production .
He stated that bringing in greenery in the cities also helps to make the area cooler . Haugwitz added that the discussion from power generation to urban vertical farming proved that there was more than one thing solar could offer to the country .
“ If you want to enhance the solar development in SEA , we need to focus on the value-added that we can provide ,” said Septia , agreeing with the two .
He said since it would be challenging to touch on policies , public acceptance of solar utilisation ( direct benefit from solar ) could be used to put pressure on enhancing solar PV development .
“ We cannot pursue solar PV only . We need to combine all our resources , and we need to maximise it to transit from fossil fuel to renewable energy . Hydropower , geothermal and power interconnection is the key to addressing the interconnection issue ,” Septia added . — @ Green
Agrivoltaics or agrophotovoltaics is co-developing the same area of land for both solar photovoltaic power as well as for agriculture .