BANGKOK (AP) \u2014 The war in Iran has exposed major risks for Southeast Asia that could cost the region many billions of dollars if it does not diversify sources of energy more quickly, according to an International Energy Agency report released Tuesday.<\/p>\n
An overreliance on oil and gas transported through the Strait of Hormuz left the region particularly vulnerable to shocks from the Iran war, a \u201cstark wake-up call\u201d for its energy security, the report says.<\/p>\n
It notes that rising sales of electric vehicles<\/a>, a renewed interest in nuclear power<\/a> and a boom in rooftop solar and other renewable energy installations<\/a> show the war is spurring change. <\/p>\n But more sweeping reforms are needed. Otherwise, Southeast Asia\u2019s energy import bill could rise to $245 billion by 2035, tripling from $80 billion in 2024, the report warns.<\/p>\n \u201cDiversification of energy sources and supply routes is now a central priority,\u201d said Fatih Birol<\/a>, the IEA executive director.<\/p>\n Iran war exposes Southeast Asia\u2019s energy risks<\/p>\n The energy shock<\/a> sent Southeast Asia into a state of energy triage<\/a>, leading to higher energy bills and rising inflation.<\/p>\n In a likely setback for efforts to phase out dependence on fossil fuels, the conflict has reinforced the need to rely on coal during times of energy crisis, the IEA said.<\/p>\n The war is also furthering plans for nuclear power in Southeast Asia, but years-long construction and regulatory processes remain. Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines may be the furthest along with nuclear power plans, but their timelines are uncertain.<\/p>\n \u201cThe IEA report clearly highlights that Southeast Asia is at a crossroads,\u201d said Sam Reynolds of the U.S.-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.<\/p>\n Do-it-yourself approaches are one option<\/p>\n In the Philippines, which declared a national energy emergency<\/a>, consumers have turned to rooftop solar at record rates<\/a>, as a quick, do-it-yourself solution to rising utility bills.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the first time I\u2019ve seen a demand shock of this magnitude,\u201d said Ivan Cano with the Manila-based solar company EcoSolutions.<\/p>\n The Philippines became the second-largest destination for Chinese solar exports<\/a> in the first quarter of 2026, the IEA found. Imports were around three times higher than the same period last year.<\/p>\n Consumers have also driven a shift in Southeast Asia\u2019s transportation industry.<\/p>\n Electric vehicle sales more than doubled in 2025 to around half a million units, according to the IEA, which found that one in five cars sold regionally is electric.<\/p>\n Last month, Laos banned the import of fuel-powered vehicles for the rest of 2026 to cut oil imports and encourage the shift to EVs.<\/p>\n Despite the tentative deal<\/a> to end the Iran war<\/a>, fossil fuel prices will likely remain high which means \u201cwe will see a push towards more ambitious clean energy deployment,\u201d said Reynolds with IEEFA.<\/p>\n IEA says reducing fossil fuel demand is key<\/p>\n To overcome its weaknesses, Southeast Asia needs to reduce its overall demand for imported fossil fuels, the IEA said.<\/p>\n It suggests making national grids<\/a> more efficient and boosting investment in all forms of renewable energy, such as solar, wind, hydro and geothermal power.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Middle East conflict is both a stress test of Southeast Asia\u2019s current energy system and a catalyst to accelerate structural change,\u201d the report stated.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n The Associated Press\u2019 climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s standards<\/a> for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BANGKOK (AP) \u2014 The war in Iran has exposed major risks for Southeast Asia that could cost the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[337,114,2084,3667,12354,122,85,8072,2682,87,117780,46,228135,228136,5536,228134,11159,126],"class_list":["post-495203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-asia","tag-business","tag-climate","tag-climate-and-environment","tag-energy-industry","tag-general-news","tag-il","tag-international-news","tag-international-trade","tag-iran","tag-iran-war","tag-israel","tag-ivan-cano","tag-philippines-government","tag-renewable-energy","tag-sam-reynolds","tag-tariffs-and-global-trade","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}