Jakarta, 7 October 2025: ERIA hosted the First Validation Workshop on ‘Phase 1 of the ASEAN Power Grid (APG) Layered Market Study’ at its headquarters in Jakarta.

Conducted in collaboration with Ricardo PLC, represented by Dr Romeo Pacudan, the study explores alayered market approach to support progressive power market integration across ASEAN.

The hybrid workshop gathered energy experts and representatives from PLN Indonesia, Meralco Philippines, and government and utility stakeholders from Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Viet Nam, and Thailand.

Opening the session, Dr Li Yanfei (Research Fellow, ERIA) highlighted the APG’s importance in advancing regional energy security, affordability, and sustainability. He noted that ASEAN’s diverse regulatory environments pose integration challenges, but the Layered Market Mechanism provides apragmatic, step-by-step pathway toward harmonised regional electricity markets.

Dr Pacudan presented the Phase 1 findings, showing how the approach supports gradual integration – from bilateral interconnections and harmonisationto eventual multilateral coordination. He emphasised that it allows member states to participateflexibly and according to their readiness, while maintaining national sovereignty.

Discussions covered transmission pricing methodologies, short-term electricity markets, and integration of variable renewable energy (VRE). Participants exchanged views on cross-border electricity trade and renewable energy policies, underscoring the need forflexible, transparent, and inclusive trading mechanisms to accelerate ASEAN’s transition toward an integrated regional power market.

In closing, Dr Li thanked participants for their valuable insights, noting that feedback from the workshop will help refine recommendations and guide the next phase of the study. Initial findings will be shared at the East Asia Energy Forum (EAEF) 2025.