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😵‍💫 One of the most confusing things for us while we were learning both English and Indonesian growing up is the fact that “solar” in Indonesian, actually means “diesel” in English…

…so technically if Vin Diesel were Indonesian, he’d be known as Vin Solar.

🏎️ The Fast & Furious star is shown above eating at a “warung”, a micro retail business that typically sells food and/or consumer goods. They are an everyday fixture in Indonesia and other communities across Southeast Asia as well, but may be known under different names in other countries; for instance, in the Philippines, the equivalent of a warung that retails consumer goods is known as a “sari sari store”.

🛍️ Such informal businesses are typically run by families in lower socioeconomic strata, who also tend to be underserved when it comes to energy access. As a result, many small businesses across Southeast Asia actually rely quite heavily on diesel* generators, which can be costly, noisy, and a source of harmful emissions (IEEE, 2012).

*actual, not Vin nor the Italian clothing company 😜

🕵🏻 In this issue, we are going to investigate how different clean and renewable energy technologies such as solar ☀️, hydro 🌊, and wind 💨 can play a role in improving energy access to underserved, off-grid communities.

🔌 How does Southeast Asia fare in terms of energy access?

Overall, things have been looking pretty good on this front actually!

🪜 Even countries with lower levels of development are making major strides, including Cambodia, which now boasts an electricity access rate of 98%, nearly 3X higher than when it was a mere 34% in 2010 (ASEAN, 2023).

However, there are a couple of underlying issues with this energy access:

1. It hasn’t been evenly distributed, with quantity ≠ quality of coverage. To give a sense of what it looks like globally, in spite of national and international efforts yielding impressive gains in access to modern energy, in 2020 over 733 million lived without reliable electricity and more than 2.3 billion relied on traditional cooking fuels, with estimates suggesting that around 620-670 million people will still not have access to electricity by 2030 under a business-as-usual scenario” (IRENA, 2022). In particular, remote rural areas like eastern Indonesia, northwestern Vietnam, and northern Cambodia still struggle with energy access.

2. Most of the energy continues to be sourced from fossil fuels, especially coal & oil…

🛢️ Fossil fuel-sourced energy obviously has major implications for greenhouse gas (GHG) making energy overall the biggest source of GHG emissions globally.

👣 In Southeast Asia, energy also plays an outsized role in its GHG footprint, although agriculture & nature (i.e. land use) play a disproportionately larger role compared to the global picture.

📈 Southeast Asia is a rapidly developing region and is expected to see increases in energy demand as it continues to grow; the key question remains on whether the region can decarbonize while retaining such growth. With estimates that Southeast Asia’s economy is set to triple in size by 2050, there’s a projected 3K terawatt hours of electricity requirements. For context, that’s about an eighth of the current global total (CSIS, 2022).

💭 So the challenge becomes: how do we provide off-grid communities access to clean, affordable, and reliable energy?

⚡ Well, Southeast Asia overall has over 17 terrawatt (TW) of potential for renewable energy, of which solar makes up the lion’s share at 15.6TW or ~90%.

🤝 Thus, the crux of the issue becomes gathering the collective political and economic will of the region to actually execute against this goal… all with an inclusionary mindset! In fact, one of the obstacles to expanding solar energy access in rural parts in Indonesia in particular stems from the energy authority—PLN—having suboptimal policies around metering and energy sharing.

💦 In any case, while solar is certainly a bright spot here, we are going to interview an entrepreneur who is leveraging micro-hydroelectric in particular to solve off-grid energy access issues.

🐘 Given its large impact on GHG emissions, energy is the elephant in the room when it comes to the climate crisis: without solving energy, you cannot address climate change. Thus—in separate issues—we will continue to cover other energy-related topics like green hydrogen, coal transition, geothermal, etc. In this issue for now, let’s continue our focus on off-grid energy access!

📚 Want to learn more about this topic?

1. 🟢 “Southeast Asia’s Green Economy: Cracking the Code” by Bain, Temasek, GenZero & AWS

2. 🔭 “Southeast Asia Energy Outlook 2022” by International Energy Agency

3. 🔌 “Bringing Electricity to All Corners of Southeast Asia” by International Energy Agency

4. 💡 “Redefining Energy Access in Indonesia” by Institute for Essential Services Reform

5. ⚡ “Electrifying Emerging ASEAN Through Off-Grid Distributed Renewable Energy Systems” by Asian Development Bank

📢 Shout-out to Lumare Energi!

Lumare Energi, an Indonesian start-up that aims to provide both access to clean energy ⚡ and drinking water 💧 from the deep ocean, leveraging thermal processes ♨️. Their clean, zero-emission technology helps solve water scarcity and electricity supply issues simultaneously, and runs 24/7—unlike other renewable solutions that are more intermittent—thus providing a better alternative to dirty and expensive diesel generators on remote islands.

➡️ To learn more about Lumare, either for investment, partnership or other opportunities, then please follow the link here or email here.

🗞️ Recent News

👍🏻 Good News

🤝 Climate change and shift to cleaner energy push Southeast Asia to finally start sharing power (Japan Today, 2 October 2023)

🔌 Indonesia’s energy authority commits to new, renewable energy in East Indonesia (Antara, 22 August 2023)

🌬️ In Vietnam, IKEA-style wind turbines are powering off-grid communities (Mekong Eye, 3 July 2023)

🌅 Off-grid solar brings light, time and income to remotest villages in Indonesia (South China Morning Post, 14 May 2023)

💸 ADB, GEAPP announce $35M for energy access and transition for South & Southeast Asia (Asian Development Bank, 14 April 2023)

👎🏻 Bad News

🕯️ Northern Vietnam plunged into darkness as power crisis prompts investor concerns (Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, 21 June 2023)

😞 Post-pandemic, Asia is falling short on electricity access and switch to renewables (Development Asia, 24 May 2023)

🫗 Limited options of clean energy for remote area residents (Institute for Essential Services Reform, 18 April 2023)

🔐 Renewable energy firms demand direct access to consumers (Jakarta Post, 26 January 2023)

📢 Other Voices

1. 💰 “Private capital’s role in ASEAN’s renewable energy transition” by Aktsa Efendy & Giovanni Ugut (Deal Street Asia, 27 September 2023)

2. 📈 “Unlocking Southeast Asia’s Potential: Renewable Energy Manufacturing Poised to Generate $90-100B Revenue by 2030” by Pooja Chandak (Solar Quarter, 29 August 2023)

3. ♟️ “Indonesia needs a new strategy to achieve 23% renewable energy mix by 2025” by Kurniawati Hasjanah & Uliyasi Simanjuntak (Institute for Essential Services Reform, 27 July 2023)

4. 🌞 “Empowering Southeast Asia’s solar surge: Turning hype into reality” by Sam Liu (Jakarta Post, 13 June 2023)

5.  🚀 A USD200B opportunity in Southeast Asia lies in solar, two-wheeler EVs, batteries: McKinsey report (Eco-Business, 31 March 2023)

🎙️ Interview with Kemal of 360Energy

💡 Why were you initially inspired to tackle the off-grid energy issue?

In November 2021, after my grandmother passed away, I was visiting her village in West Java, when I was first exposed to the problems of off-grid energy access.

As I looked more into off-grid issues, I realized a specific subset of the problem within the Indonesian aquaculture industry in particular:

1. Indonesian aquaculture is a USD12B industry

2. Smallholder farmers are the backbone of this industry, making up 98.8% of farmers. They spend 10-15% of expenses on electricity, and +20% for those who depend on diesel generators

3. Indonesia has 95GW of hydroelectric power potential, the second largest in the world. This renewable and abundant energy source exists especially around these farms, why continue to depend on expensive and polluting fossil fuels?

While sitting at an 8AM class back at my university in Massachusetts, I was inspired by my classmate who was working on a project that was sponsored by the Tinkerbox program, which provides funding and mentoring for student-initiated innovation and entrepreneurship ideas; this is where the initial spark of 360Energy came from.

🛠️ How exactly is 360Energy solving it?

⚡ 360energy develops a scalable, non-intermittent, clean energy microgrid. Hydroelectric microgrids hold the potential to power Indonesia’s aquaculture affordably and sustainably.

🐟 Our main product is called the “Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant”, or GUPPY for short (see image below for an example of what it looks like). It generates power consistently, levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of IDR460-1400 per kilowatt hour (kWh). For comparison, average the solar photovoltaic rate in Indonesia is up to 5 times more expensive IDR2,524/kWh.

After running a pilot in Sukabumi, we’ve seen the following impacts by KPI:

1. 🐠 250% increase in fish production

2. ⚡ 67% savings on electricity cost

3. ⚫ 26.7 tonnes of CO2 avoided annually per microgrid, equivalent to the annual sequestration of 2,169 mangroves

😲 What is a surprising fact about off-grid energy?

One common misconception is that off-grid energy solutions, particularly in the context of renewable energy, are synonymous with solar power. While solar is a fantastic resource, it’s not the only player in the game. Moreover, due to PLN policies related to smart metering, mesh grids, and leasing solar becomes infeasible for certain market segments.

Mini hydroelectric systems, like the ones we’re developing at 360energy, have enormous potential to provide reliable, continuous power in areas with suitable water resources. They can operate around the clock, unlike solar systems that rely on daylight hours and often require costly battery storage solutions.

🎬 What actions can readers take now to support your cause?

1. 📢 Spread Awareness and Advocate:

We’d love for readers to spread the word about 360energy and the energy solutions we’re developing, like the Moped Microgrid. A collective voice can amplify the urgency and significance of transitioning to cleaner, more accessible energy solutions, especially in areas like Indonesia's aquaculture industry.

2. 🤝 Engage in Strategic Partnerships & Collaborations:

We warmly welcome readers involved in related fields or industries to consider partnerships or collaborations, potentially accelerating the realization of our sustainable solutions and magnifying the positive impacts on our local communities and environment.

3. 🤑 Connect with Potential Investors:

As we’re currently in the fundraising stage for Phase I (i.e. scaling product market fit through strategic partnerships), introductions or connections to potential investors who are passionate about supporting clean energy innovations would be highly valuable. These connections could substantially aid in expanding the reach and impact of our solutions.

🦸🏻 What do you do when you’re not saving the world?

🦏 Beyond off-grid energy, also passionate about conservation of biodiversity. I actually started an animal conservation non-profit/foundation called Yayasan Sondaicus Indonesia (Instagram here). We work closely with the WWF and local park rangers on community development.

🎥 Aside from this I’m also a big cinephile and do amateur photography.

⏭️ Next week, we’ll be discussing carbon credits, a major topic lately as countries across Southeast Asia create their own national exchanges & other markets.

❓ Did you enjoy this week’s issue? If yes, please do forward to your friends who would enjoy the read as well. Also, feel free to let us know what you thought by giving us feedback at [email protected].

🌊 SEA you next week!

Karina & Massimiliano