Phl, Vietnam race for RE dominance

The Philippines and Vietnam lead the region in renewable energy (RE) expansion, primarily through variable RE sources, according to a report titled “Southeast Asia at a Crossroads: Deterring SEA’s Fossil Future with Renewables,” by the Center for Energy, Ecology and Development (CEED).

The report was presented before the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members are both considered the fastest growing in the region while leading the RE expansion, particularly in variable renewable energy sources, solar and wind, with the Philippines having a total planned capacity of 160.8 gigawatts (GW) and 131 GW for Vietnam.

Wind energy is expected to emerge as Southeast Asia’s leading renewable energy source, with a projected capacity of 222.5 GW, including 159.5 GW from offshore wind and 64.1 GW from offshore wind.

The region’s expansive coastlines and favorable wind conditions position itself to capitalize on wind energy.

Vietnam leads the wind energy deployment with 111.8 GW in the pipeline, followed by the Philippines with 101.5 GW. Both countries account for 94 percent of planned wind capacity.

Furthermore, the solar energy sector demonstrates a robust increase, with its proposed The Philippines leads with 44.1 GW, followed by Indonesia (17.7 GW) and Vietnam (15.8 GW).

Unlike wind, solar shows higher construction activity (31.8 GW), suggesting faster near-term deployment. This pattern aligns with solar’s scalability advantages and shorter construction timelines.

Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia each maintain 2-3 GW pipelines.

Regional companies dominate the region’s biggest proponents of planned wind and solar capacity. Vietnam’s T&T Group, with a leading global wind developer, Orsted, plans to put up 18.5 GW of capacity with 5 GW in the construction stage.

ACEN, the renewable arm of Ayala Corp, is also one of the top proponents of both solar and wind capacity with a 9.6 GW proposed capacity. Japanese companies Shizen Energy and Tokyo Gas are also included in the top 10, with two significant offshore wind projects in Vietnam with a combined capacity of 6 GW.