RECCESSARY’s “ASEAN Weekly” highlights Southeast Asia’s new energy and carbon market updates. (Image: RECCESSARY)
This week in ASEAN, the region’s clean energy transition gained momentum. The Philippines brought online the world’s largest operational solar-storage project, while Singapore and Indonesia advanced cross-border green power talks as carbon pricing becomes central to future deals. Below are ASEAN’s key stories from July 20–26.
Vietnam lifts rooftop solar export cap, opens DPPAs to data centers despite EVN concerns
Vietnam has more than doubled the amount of surplus rooftop solar power that projects can sell to the grid and widened access to its direct power purchase agreement (DPPA) mechanism, with the aim of improving distributed solar economics and expanding corporate clean energy procurement.
The government raised the rooftop solar export cap from 20% to 50% of total generation, according to a policy update released by state utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN) on June 26. Read more here
Thailand plans $712 million EV subsidy as Chinese brands reshape auto market
Thailand is considering a major expansion of electric vehicle (EV) subsidies, with a proposed package worth about 24 billion baht (roughly USD 712.2 million). The plan is expected to support the replacement of up to 80,000 commercial vehicles.
As more EV makers enter the Thai market, industry groups are urging the government to require manufacturers to use locally sourced components, aiming to shield domestic supply chains from an influx of low-cost imported EVs. Read more here
Indonesia bets on hydrogen transport with 194-km refueling corridor, dual-fuel bus
Indonesia has unveiled a new hydrogen mobility initiative, including plans to build a 194-kilometer hydrogen refueling corridor and deploy hydrogen–diesel dual-fuel buses. The hybrid system is expected to cut carbon emissions by nearly 40% while reducing reliance on imported energy.
Meanwhile, state utility PLN estimates that around 125 tons of hydrogen go unused annually, underscoring that the bottleneck lies not in supply, but in limited vehicle adoption. Read more here
Vietnam’s offshore wind framework takes shape, but foreign developers still face major hurdles
Vietnam has an estimated 599 GW of technical offshore wind potential along its coastline. But years of interest from international developers have yet to produce a single completed project.
The government moved to address that gap on July 4, when Decree No. 272/2026/ND-CP took immediate effect. The decree, which will remain valid until December 31, 2030, establishes Vietnam’s first detailed framework for offshore wind development, covering survey qualifications, investor eligibility, and project approval procedures. Read more here
Singapore-Indonesia green power trade advances as carbon prices guide pricing
Singapore and Indonesia are moving closer to an agreement on cross-border renewable electricity trade, but they have yet to settle on a price that is attractive to both sides.
Singapore’s Minister of State for Trade and Industry Gan Siow Huang said carbon credit prices are being used as a benchmark for what companies may be willing to pay, while Indonesia’s Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia has said the current proposals do not yet provide a mutually beneficial outcome. Read more here
Singapore and Indonesia are nearing a green power trade agreement, with pricing terms still under negotiation. (Photo: Lawrence Wong's Facebook)
Philippines opens world’s largest solar-storage project: What’s next for the power market?
The Philippines inaugurated the first phase of the MTerra Solar Project on July 14, bringing online what its developers describe as the world’s largest operational solar and battery storage facility built on a single site.
MTerra’s first phase has energized 1,373 MW of solar photovoltaic capacity and 825 MW, or 3,300 MWh, of battery energy storage. Read more here
Can Indonesia build the workforce needed for its blue carbon ambitions?
Over the last decade, blue carbon ecosystems, such as mangroves and seagrasses, have taken centre stage in global discussions on tackling climate change, and Indonesia — home to 17 per cent of the world’s mangroves and seagrasses — has become a key actor in this agenda.
Yet, while global attention often centres on restoration targets, carbon markets, and blue finance, far less discussion has focused on a more fundamental question: who will actually deliver this transition? Read more here
Malaysia clamps down on toxic trade with total e-waste import ban
Investigators and NGOs have long raised concerns about containers with falsely declared documents regularly slipping into Malaysia’s illegal recycling yards. To slip past customs, smugglers often falsify paperwork, declaring hazardous waste as legitimate raw materials.
However, this particular shipment met with a strict new rule: an absolute ban on e-waste imports that took full effect on April 1, 2026, under Malaysia’s new Customs Order. Read more here
.jpg)
A special e-waste task force has turned back more than 3,000 metric tons of illegal or falsely declared e-waste since January 2026. Image courtesy of the Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS).
Southeast Asia's forests losing natural cooling as climate warms, study finds
A new study from Southeast Asia finds the combined pressures of global warming and habitat degradation could send forest understory heat levels soaring within the next three decades, potentially exposing species to unprecedented levels of thermal stress. Read more here
Vietnam’s coffee boom fueled by decades of deforestation, report finds
Decades of unchecked deforestation for coffee production has devastated Vietnam’s Central Highland forests, according to a new investigation by the Berlin-headquartered watchdog group Coffee Watch. Vietnam is currently the world’s second largest coffee producer, supplying nearly 40% of the world’s exports of Robusta coffee.
The investigation, which analyzed satellite data and government records, found that tropical forest cover in Vietnam’s Central Highlands region, which produces 95% of the country’s coffee, plummeted from 42.8% in 1990 to just 19% by 2020. Read more here
Track ASEAN energy and carbon markets with clarity. Subscribe to RECCESSARY for policy intelligence and business-ready insights across Asia-Pacific.
