Final Report: USAID Clean Power Asia 2016-2021

However, further expansion of conventional power plants will have far-reaching negative impacts on global greenhouse gas emissions, ecosystems, human health, fisheries, and livelihoods throughout the Mekong River basin and beyond. The USAID Clean Power Asia program was a $16.3 million contract implemented by Abt Associates from 2016 to 2021. The program worked with Lower Mekong countries and other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states to encourage power sector investments in environmentally friendly, grid-connected renewable energy (RE) sources. The program focused on incorporating renewable energy into planning, promoting smart incentives, building an enabling environment for renewable energy policies and frameworks, and mobilizing finance. The program collaborated with diverse stakeholders, partners, and regional organizations in four Lower Mekong (LM) countries: Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. It shared lessons learned and best practices among additional ASEAN member states, including the Philippines and Indonesia. The program's goal was to accelerate the regional transition to a high-performing, low-carbon power sector, with three interconnected outcomes: high renewable energy scenarios included in energy planning; improved enabling policy, regulatory, and technical environment for renewable energy deployment; and increased investment in and deployment of grid-connected renewable energy projects. The program began at a time when innovations in power system planning were incorporating more renewable energy, driven by unprecedented cost reductions, especially for solar and wind projects. The program focused on ensuring greater consideration for higher levels of renewable energy in power sector plans, including through the use of new sources of data and tools better adapted to enable informed decision-making for greater RE levels. In Laos, the program focused on the country's planning process due to its strategic role in the LM region power sector. Other donors and international organizations, including the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank, and the International Energy Agency (IEA), were assisting other LM countries. A long-term integrated resource and resilience plan (IRRP) was completed, enabling Laos to combine its domestic and export power needs into one plan for the first time. The IRRP also included analyzing power sector needs in the context of the entire energy sector, to develop scenarios through 2055 to complement short and medium-term plans, and to evaluate the robustness of those plans given key social objectives and risks not in the control of planners. The planning efforts resulted in the designation of two RE zones that would enable access to additional RE resources for domestic use and export, facilitating more power trade with Vietnam. IRRP capacity building has built the foundation for planners in the Ministry of Energy to develop and implement long-term plans that incorporate renewable energy and promote sustainable development. The program contributed to the proposal, adoption, and/or implementation of 16 new policies and regulations across multiple countries. Over $7 billion of investment has been mobilized to decarbonize and strengthen power system resilience through renewable energy investments, resulting from the installation of more than 9,000 megawatts of renewable energy capacity. Based on these policies and installed RE projects, the program has contributed to preventing over 93 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in greenhouse gas emissions being released into the atmosphere over the next 15 years.