The Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) and the Energy Research Institute Network (ERIN) will hold the 3rd East Asia Energy Forum (EAEF3) on Tuesday, 17 November 2020 as one of the programmes of the Asia Energy Business Forum (AEBF) 2020. The AEBF 2020 will be held on 17-20 November 2020, co-organised by the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) and dmg events.

The forum, which will be held as a virtual conference, will feature keynote speakers from the ministerial level of ASEAN countries and Japan, as well as speakers and panellists from the specialists of ministries, companies, and international organisations from East Asia region on AEBF 2020 event website.

Welcome Address -  H.E. Dato Lim Jock Hoi

Keynote Speech by H.E. Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mat Suny bin Haji Md Hussein, Minister of Energy, Brunei Darussalam 

Keynote Speech by H.E. Mr Suy Sem, Minister of Mines and Energy, Cambodia

Keynote Speech by H.E. Dr Khammany Inthirath, Minister of Energy and Mines, Lao PDR 

Agenda

Additional Background

Most current energy polices of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries are meant to improve the availability, accessibility, and affordability of energy supply. The East Asia Summit (EAS) Energy Outlook, updated by ERIA in 2018, suggested that ASEAN would still depend on fossil fuels in 2040 and the share of fossil fuels per total primary energy supply (TPES) in 2040 would be 85% in the Business-as-Usual (BAU) scenario and 76% under the Alternative Policy Scenario (APS) including aggressive energy efficiency and conservation (EEC) and variable renewable energy (vRE) targets. CO2 emissions by ASEAN countries from 2015 to 2040 are expected to increase by about three times in the BAU scenario and by two times under the APS.

ASEAN member countries have two choices to reduce future CO2 emissions: one is shifting to zero emission energy sources, which are hydropower, geothermal power, nuclear power, and vRE such as solar/PV and wind for generating electricity; the other is application of Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) and Carbon Recycling technologies. Regarding the first option, generation costs of vRE have been falling, but several operational challenges remain – the seasonality of hydropower and vRE, safety concerns of nuclear power, and unstable power generation and lower vRE operation rates. Regarding the second option, CCUS is not yet commercially available and further R&D with strong government support and international and regional cooperation is needed to make it commercially viable. ASEAN will have to tackle the challenge of not only penetrating zero emission power sources, therefore, but also promoting CCUS/Carbon Recycling. The Second East Asia Energy Forum (EAEF) held in Bangkok in 2019 discussed vRE and the third forum focuses on CCUS/Carbon Recycling.

The road transport sector is the second largest sector in term of CO2 emissions in the ASEAN region (after the power generation sector). Use of electric vehicles or Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) could help to reduce CO2 emissions in this sector in ASEAN countries. FCEVs need hydrogen as fuel and fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas will become major hydrogen sources in the near future. Gasification processes will be used to extract hydrogen from low-quality coal such as lignite or brown coal and steam reforming processes will be used to extract hydrogen from natural gas such as flared gas. Both processes emit CO2 during their hydrogen production processes. Therefore, CCUS will be very important for producing blue hydrogen.

The Third East Asia Energy Forum, ‘The Role of Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) /Carbon Recycling in ASEAN/Asia’, organised by ERIA and hosted by Viet Nam, will be a virtual forum due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will discuss the current status and holistic perspectives of CCUS/Carbon Recycling in the EAS region and the world, which will have critical implications for energy sustainability in the region.

The Forum will be privileged to have an opening address by H.E. Mr Tran Tuan Anh, Minister of Industry and Trade, Viet Nam. Given the vital roles of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Philippines, and Thailand in CCUS/Carbon Recycling, ERIA also aims to have keynote speeches by ministers of these countries.

Content Discussion 

The meeting was divided into two sessions: the first session discussed Carbon Recycling with Prof Jun Arima, Senior Policy Fellow at ERIA as Moderator. The second session focused on the current situation of CCUS and future perspectives, with case studies regarding CCUS project development in Indonesia, and a panel discussion led by MRI.

In the first session, representatives from Japan, Mr Hideaki Tanaka, NEDO, and Mr. Hiroshi Tsuchiya, METI, elaborated on technology innovation for Carbon Recycling. This technology is an element of CCUS and can be adapted to the countries that have insufficient EOR/EGR (Enhanced Oil and Gas Recovery) technologies. Dr Saleh Abdurrahman, from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Indonesia, and Dr Twarath Sutabuthr from the Ministry of Energy, Thailand, expressed interest to develop this technology in their countries. Mr Saleh stated that Indonesia already has several policies that support the adoption of this technology in Indonesia.  For Thailand, Carbon Recycling development has not been integrated into the 2030 country roadmap yet. The session highlighted key challenges facing deployment of this technology within the region, including cost reduction, demand creation, and international collaboration. International and regional support will be crucial to encourage more research. Also, as part of climate actions to reduce global carbon emission, the targets and actions should go beyond 2030.

The second session consisted of two parts. The first focused on CCUS promotion with presentations by Mr Ian Havercroft from Global Capture and Storange institute (GCCSI) and Ms Kikuko Shinchi, from MRI. Mr Havercroft emphasized policy approachs to promote CCUS, and learning from other advanced countries, such as European, Japan, the US, and Australia. He made several suggestions for consideration by Asian nations regarding CCUS deployment, such as allowing sufficient time for  developing legislation, particularly in light of wider policy commitments. Ms Shinchi focused more on CCUS business cases. She stated that CCUS business development can build upon existing frameworks. Moreover, establishing bilateral MOUs on CCUS cooperation is essential.

Next, a representative from JAPEX, Mr Toshiyukki Anraku, presented the results of a feasibility study for JCM (Joint Credit Mechanism) CCUS in two locations in Indonesia: Niru, South Sumatera, and Sukowati, Central Java. This project is a bilateral project between Japan (JAPEX) and Indonesia (Pertamina EP and LEMIGAS). In order to promote JCM CCUS commercialization in Indonesia, Mr Anraku pointed out that Indonesia needs to improve in several areas, such as long-term vision and strategy, policy readiness, technology enhancement, commercial environment, and public acceptance.  

Dr Yucho Sadamichi, from Japan Nus Co., Ltd. presented a case study conducted in Indonesia regarding a CCUS-EOR and CO₂ pipeline project, and CCUS and Power Generation Development, Gundih Project. He explained that the feasibility study has been conducted since early 2020, and the site has unique features that potentially can expand to be the first CO₂ credit from CCUS through JCM. Again, private sector participation in CCUS is important to sustain the project.

During the panel discussion, led by Ms Kikuko Shinchi from MRI, discussions highlighted legal frameworks, collaborative approaches, and research innovation as essential. Most participants raised points on international knowledge sharing and capacity building to succeed in the commercialization of CCUS technology and to overcome the challenges.

In closing remarks, Prof. Nishimura emphasized that (1) CCUS and Carbon Recycling are absolutely crucial technologies for the ASEAN region to achieve carbon neutrality in the future, without neglecting energy security and affordability for regional energy choice. As the volume of fossil fuels will continue to increase in the future, the energy mix should be supported, and deployment of CCUS and Carbon Recycling technologies should be considered; (2) It is necessary to promote RD&D (Research, Development and Demonstration) efforts of CCUS and Carbon Recycling technology to improve its performance and cost competitiveness for long-term planning beyond 2030; (3) The presence of supporting policy actions on CCUS and Carbon Recycling deployment is crucial; and lastly (4) Promoting regional and international cooperation in this regard should be encouraged. ERIA will continuously deliver pragmatic policy messages reflecting the regional energy reality, CCUS and Carbon Recycling as they are priority areas.