The MoU, which would involve 10 Asian countries, means the establishment of an Asean framework for power exchange among interconnecting countries, Tenaga Nasional Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Che Khalib Mohamad Noh said. The MoU, he said, was an important step towards optimising resource development in the region, particularly at a time of rising fuel prices.

"The MoU is to set the parameters and framework so that member countries can work towards the realisation of the grid," he told reporters after the 22nd Heads of Asean Power Utility and Authority (HAPUA) council meeting yesterday.

HAPUA is a forum for Asean countries to foster greater cooperation among the 10 member countries.

Malaysia's Energy, Water and Communication Ministry secretary-general Dr Halim Man opened the meeting. Khalib said interconnections between Asean members could be established through bilateral arrangements between the utilities through government support, citing Malaysia's power-sharing arrangements with Singapore and Thailand.

As for cross-border investments, he said Asean member countries could participate by investing in strategic interconnection projects, or in new capacity projects.

On the time frame to build the Asean power grid, he said the idea was mooted many years ago, but with escalating oil prices and growing demand for energy in the region, it was vital to hasten its development.

Khalib said the development of a grid to link member countries took a lot of planning and required substantial investments by participating countries.

"Each project needs to be assessed individually and be commercially viable before we proceed," Khalib said, adding that other issues such as border rate charges also needed to be addressed once the grid was in place.

He said one of the major obstacles faced in building the grid was getting the power from the sources to the places that require the energy, especially from one country to another.

The Star

Asia News Network

KOTA KINABALU, MALAYSIA