Senior energy officials from across Southeast Asia have formally endorsed the 2026 Annual Energy Priorities, marking a significant step toward regional energy security and decarbonization. The endorsement took place during the ASEAN Special Senior Officials Meeting on Energy (Special SOME), held in Bohol on January 20–21, 2026.
Under the leadership of the Philippines, which holds the ASEAN Chairmanship for 2026, the meeting focused on transitioning from high-level agreements to tangible operational outcomes.
A primary focus of the chairmanship is the implementation of the Enhanced ASEAN Power Grid (APG) Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), originally signed in Malaysia in October 2025. This framework is designed to strengthen regional connectivity, facilitate multilateral power trade, and integrate more renewable energy into the regional mix.
“With the Enhanced APG MoU, our focus now is execution,” stated Undersecretary Felix William “Wimpy” B. Fuentebella, Philippine Chair and SOE Leader. “We are operationalizing dedicated Task Forces across Policy, Legal, and Technical domains to ensure we move in a coordinated, time-bound manner.”
To support this, the Philippines is spearheading the development of comprehensive operational guidelines for the Submarine Power Cable Framework. These guidelines will address the legal, technical, and financial components necessary to create an investment-ready environment for cross-border energy projects.
Beyond the power grid, the endorsed priorities include seven critical work programmes aimed at modernizing the region’s energy landscape:
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9th ASEAN Energy Outlook: Publication of the latest regional energy projections.
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Nuclear Power Readiness: Completion of a landmark study on financing and human resources for safe, responsible nuclear energy consideration.
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Carbon Management: Finalization of the ASEAN Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) Assessment and Business Model Study.
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Oil & Gas Competitiveness: Benchmarking fiscal regimes to attract upstream investment.
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Sustainable Management: Launching the Sustainable ASEAN Energy Management Certification Scheme (SAEMAS).
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Energy Storage: A study on accelerating Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) to support variable renewable energy integration.
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Renewable Energy Certificates: Assessing the feasibility of a cross-border REC market to boost regional RE deployment.
Usec. Fuentebella emphasized that these technical initiatives are ultimately designed to serve the people of ASEAN.
“Our priority is to make regional initiatives meaningful at the ground level—supporting energy access, protecting consumers from price volatility, generating jobs, and strengthening system reliability,” Fuentebella added.
These work programmes will be advanced by ASEAN Sub-Sector Networks in the coming months. Progress will be reviewed at the regular SOME in June 2026, with final endorsements expected at the ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) in September 2026.
