Construction Middle East: Arabian Civil Engineers by GineersNow GineersNow Engineering Magazine Issue No. 014, Sau | Page 20

Sponsored Article
A Case for Distributed
Power Systems in
Southeast Asia
The observed inadequacy in the region’s current
electricity infrastructure have prompted Southeast
Asian countries to find power solutions in various
forms of distributed power generation
Photo credit: Flickr
An Analysis of the Distributed Power Systems in
Southeast Asia. Rapid economic development, a
continuous growth in population, and increased
domestic and foreign investments across key
industries have all contributed to the remarkable
increase in Southeast Asia’s power consumption
in recent years. The region’s power demand has
risen by 2.5 times in the past 20 years, and by
2040, Southeast Asia’s electricity requirements is
likely to triple, for which an additional power
generation capacity of approximately 400 GW is
said to be required.
In the interest of maintaining a healthy economy
and attracting further foreign investment and
activities, countries in Southeast Asia have
ramped up their spending in infrastructure,
including in roads, railways, and residential and
commercial facilities. This, among other factors,
has caused the region’s power demand to
exponentially expand. And while Southeast Asian
governments and allied stakeholders are also
funding the building of new or the refurbishment
of existing power facilities to support long-term
electricity requirements, the current shortage in
power supply within the region, not helped by
constrained transmission and distribution
facilities, is making it challenging to satisfy the
immediate electricity demand. The observed
inadequacy in the current power infrastructure,
delays in the construction of permanent power
18
Construction Leaders • April 2017
generation facilities, and the heightened need to
fulfill the region’s immediate power requirements
have prompted Southeast Asian countries to find
solutions in distributed power generation.
Distributed Power Generation in Southeast Asia
According to global research and consulting firm
Frost and Sullivan, the overall installed capacity
of the distributed power generation market in
Southeast Asia is in the area of 20,450 MW in
2015, which can scale up to 34,747 MW by 2020.
Among the countries in Southeast Asia, the
Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand and
Vietnam are considered to be high-potential
territories for distributed power based on market
potential and available resources. For instance, in
the Philippines and Indonesia, distributed power
generation facilities can rapidly bring power to
provinces that are currently not connected to the
countries’ national grids due to isolation and
remoteness. While in Myanmar, distributed
power generation systems can provide electricity
to smaller load centers, considering that the
country’s overall electrification rate is only 26%
and the transmission line losses stands at 25%.
Moreover, more than 60% of the land in Thailand,
Myanmar and Vietnam are greatly suitable for
large-scale solar farms, with substantial
irradiance levels between 1,200 kWh/m2/year
and 2,000 kWh/m2/year.