Engineers work at the site of the Monsoon Wind Power Project in Laos on Dec 28, 2025. ZHU JIPENG/FOR CHINA DAILY
Asia risks missing out on billions of dollars of green investment because its underfunded power grids are failing to keep pace with surging energy demand, a report released in May warns.
The report by Bain & Company and Standard Chartered bank says the region is facing a crunch. Investors are lining up to invest in data centers, renewable energy, green industrial parks, and electric vehicle production and infrastructure. But most power grids in Southeast Asia have limited regional interconnections and are not adapting fast enough to meet the rapid electrification of economies.
Some investors are deterred by long grid connection times, lack of policy clarity, and rigid rules of bureaucratic state-run power companies in the region, home to nearly 700 million people and one of the world's fastest-growing energy markets.
The region's grids urgently need more investment and reforms to expand and modernize, says the report. Many are governed by a hodgepodge of inflexible rules limiting private operators and a lack of innovative power purchase agreements. Long grid connection times also frustrate investors, such as data center developers who cannot afford to wait several years.
