Remote Areas Still Rely on Gensets, Indonesia Pushes for ASEAN Regional Electricity Interconnection
The Indonesian government is pushing for enhanced connectivity in energy infrastructure across eastern ASEAN to accelerate equitable access to electricity, particularly in remote areas that still rely on high-cost gensets.
This issue was raised at the Special BIMP-EAGA (Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area) Leaders’ Summit in Cebu, Philippines, on Thursday (7 May 2026) local time.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia, who accompanied President Prabowo Subianto to the meeting, stated that regional energy infrastructure development must directly impact communities in underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost (3T) areas.
According to him, there are still remote regions that lack reliable electricity supply and depend on gensets, limiting economic activities and public services.
“This meeting is an initiative for subregional economic cooperation established in 1994 to promote development in 3T areas for the four member countries,” Bahlil said in his official statement on Friday (8 May 2026).
Bahlil noted that such steps are crucial to ensure border communities and remote islands gain better energy access, while also driving local economic growth.
“This synergy will strengthen collaboration so that people in remote areas can access affordable energy for improved welfare,” he said.
Through BIMP-EAGA cooperation, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is optimistic that collaboration among the four member countries can bolster regional energy infrastructure development.
This is expected not only to secure each country’s supply chains but also to accelerate Southeast Asia as a resilient and sustainable economic growth axis.
“With that spirit, BIMP-EAGA must continue to evolve. BIMP-EAGA must be more adaptive, more impactful, and more responsive to our communities’ needs,” he added.
The President also highlighted the importance of strengthening subregional connectivity, including increasing the capacity of the Trans Borneo Power Grid to make energy distribution in the region more efficient.
He stated that this agenda requires financing support, technical expertise, and closer partnerships with regional development partners.
“All this will not happen without the right support. We need to secure funding, mobilise technical expertise, and deepen partnerships with our regional advisors and development partners,” Prabowo said.