Regional
National Roles in a Regional System: the ASEAN Power Grid and its opportunity to enhance Energy Security
The US-Israel war on Iran has triggered the most severe global energy supply shock in decades, if not “the greatest threat to global energy security in history”1. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil trade and significant volumes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) pass, has caused sweeping disruption to fuel supply chains […]
Powering Wellbeing: Why Southeast Asia Must Rethink Electricity Planning Beyond GDP
Despite the rapid expansion of electricity generation and near-universal electrification across much of Southeast Asia, many households and essential public services continue to face unreliable or unaffordable electricity. A report by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the NewClimate Institute, published under the project “Clean, Affordable and Secure Energy for Southeast Asia” (CASE), titled Powering Wellbeing: Rethinking Electricity Planning Beyond GDP […]
Two Months of Conflict, One Global Shock: How the Strait of Hormuz Crisis Is Rewriting Oil Markets
The Strait of Hormuz has long been recognised as a critical node in global energy supply chain. As a key transit route for a substantial share of the world’s seaborne oil trade, traders modelled the risk, navies prepared for it, and governments war-gamed the scenario. But most investors still treated a prolonged disruption as a low-probability event. Two months into the US-Israel war with Iran, that assumption […]
Rethinking Electricity Planning in Southeast Asia: From GDP to Wellbeing
New report by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the NewClimate Institute, published under the project Clean, Affordable and Secure Energy for Southeast Asia (CASE), examines why and how electricity planning in Southeast Asia should move beyond GDP-centred growth towards sufficiency, affordability and well-being. The report Powering Wellbeing: Rethinking Electricity Planning Beyond GDP in Southeast Asia examines the limitations of the GDP-centric development model […]
Managing Energy Volatility: An Overview of Policy Responses Across Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia remains highly exposed to global energy shocks. Recent volatility in global oil and gas markets has highlighted the continued exposure of Southeast Asian economies to external energy shocks. Although some countries in the region produce fossil fuels domestically, most remain net importers and are therefore sensitive to disruptions in international supply and fluctuations in global prices. The Strait […]
Energy Security in the Shadow of Geopolitical Conflict: How CASE Countries are Navigating the 2026 Fuel Crisis
When the Middle East conflict intensified on 28 February 2026, the subsequent blockade of the Strait of Hormuz on 4 March sent immediate shockwaves through the global energy market. For the CASE countries—Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam—this represented an existential threat, as one-fifth of global oil and gas supplies normally pass through this chokepoint […]