ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) members have forged themselves into leading industrial and export-driven manufacturing hubs in recent decades. They have been lagging behind when it comes to deploying solar and other emissions-free energy resources, however; that despite having committed to achieving UN renewable energy and climate change goals.

But in recent years Singapore is concentrating on developing and deploying floating solar power. Singapore’s national water agency, the Public Utilities Board (PUB), in June announced it aims to seek out “private sector participation to deploy a 50-MWp floating solar PV system on a national reservoir by 2021,” Jasper Wong, the head of Construction and Infrastructure, Sector Solutions Group for United Overseas Bank’s (UOB) Wholesale Banking Group, pointed out in an interview. “The floating solar energy system will eliminate the need to emit 28,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide every year it is in operation—the equivalent to removing 6,000 cars off Singapore’s roads,” he said.

At Philippine peso (PhP) 2.50–5.30 (USD0.05–0.10) per kilowatt-hour (kWh) excluding financing costs, rooftop solar can deliver lower-cost energy than conventional coal-fired power plants and unlock as much as PhP1.5 trillion (US$2.8 billion) in new investment by 2030, Ahmed highlighted. Larger scale commercial-industrial and utility-scale solar power plants can produce electricity even more cheaply.