Ep66 Missing Link: Coordinating $45B in Southeast Asian Energy,, ft Maximilian Heil, GIZ

Southeast Asia's energy transition faces a critical challenge: information fragmentation. With hundreds of projects, billions in investments, and countless stakeholders working across the region, coordination has been nearly impossible - until now. In this episode, we explore SIPET (Southeast Asia Information Platform for the Energy Transition), an open-source platform. Our guest, Maximilian Heil from GIZ, reveals how this innovative tool maps nearly 500 energy projects representing over $45 billion in investments across 10 ASEAN countries. We dive deep into the platform's three core tools - the knowledge hub, project mapping database, and power sector resources - and discover how they're breaking down silos between governments, donors, researchers, and private sector players. From just energy transition partnerships in Vietnam and Indonesia to community-level energy efficiency projects in Laos, SIPET is connecting the dots that were previously scattered across the region. This conversation goes beyond technology to explore the human element of energy transition: capacity building, knowledge sharing, and the collaborative networks that will ultimately determine Southeast Asia's path to carbon neutrality.

REF: Southeast Asia Information Platform for the Energy Transition, GIZ.

ABOUT MAX. Mr. Maximilian Heil is a Project Coordinator at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) for the project “Clean, Affordable and Secure Energy for Southeast Asia” (CASE). Based in Bangkok, he leads coordination of regional initiatives such as the ASEAN Power Grid Advancement Programme (APG-AP) and the Southeast Asia Information Platform for the Energy Transition (SIPET). His work focuses on strengthening multilateral energy cooperation, promoting clean energy narratives, and enabling policy dialogue across Southeast Asia. Mr. Heil joined GIZ in 2018 as a liaison officer for Africa–EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) , supporting high-level engagement with the African Union and the European Commission. Before joining GIZ, he worked as a public affairs consultant on EU policy in the fields of energy, climate, and transport. His professional background combines expertise in international energy policy, strategic communication, and project management in multilateral environments. Maximilian Heil holds a bachelor and master ’s degree in  business economics and development studies with international academic experience in Denmark, Mexico, and Germany. 

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Transcript

Ep66 Missing Link: Coordinating $45B in Southeast Asian Energy,, ft Maximilian Heil, GIZ

PLEASE NOTE: Automatically generated transcript may contain errors. For accuracy, only rely on the original recording.

Joseph Jacobelli: Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, wherever you may be, and welcome to episode 66 of the Asia Climate Finance Podcast. This episode is a little bit special because we talk about couple of subjects that are very close to my heart, which is capacity building and the importance of capacity building, and also data and accessibility to data.

Our guest is Maximilian Heil. He's with GIZ, the German Development Agency, and we talk about a specific product launched about five years ago by GIZ called the Southeast Asia platform for the energy transition or SIPET 

So we discuss what this particular project mapping tool actually is and what it does, how it facilitates collaboration and knowledge, how it helps to promote regional collaboration and how it engages and attracts various stakeholders, including the finance industry. 

Also, max provides some examples so we can actually put some colour on what the platform actually does.

For those of you familiar with the podcast at times this episode may sound a little bit like a pitch or advertising, but actually the platform is open source and free to use. So apologies if sometimes it sounds like an ad, but it's not an ad. We're just trying to explain the strengths of this unique platform.

Please do continue to support us and contact us if you have any ideas for topics or guests. Enjoy the show.

Hello, Max, how are you? How's things? 

Maximilian Heil: Hello Joseph? I'm good. I'm really, really good and I'm really happy to be on your podcast and I really appreciate the invitation.

Joseph Jacobelli: Thank you very much for making it, I appreciate you being on. Max, I, I already got your bio on the show notes, but could you tell us a little bit about, yourself, especially, how you got involved with the energy transition? 

Maximilian Heil: Maybe just for a quick intro my name is Maximilian Heil and I'm based in Bangkok, where I work for GIZ, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, as a project coordinator and especially on the regional project, Clean, Affordable, and Secure Energy for Southeast Asia or in short CASE. And I'm currently in charge of a regional project and knowledge management. And I support the ASEAN and Power Grid Advancement program as well as SIPET which is a platform that brings together the stories, data, and initiatives shaping the energy transition in the region.

And, why I'm working in the sector? I've always been interested in how energy transition becomes real and not just in policy documents, but really also in practice. Working with people on the ground. And that means thinking beyond infrastructure about people, systems and coordination.

. Just recently I was at the Asia Clean Energy Forum. Which is a big given event here in the region organized by the Asian Development Bank in Manila. And we had the chance to launch our key knowledge product the power policy tracker, which is also part of SIPET, and I'm really excited to also talk a little bit more about that with you today.

Joseph Jacobelli: Great. Why don't we break down a few of the terminology. First maybe for the audience could you tell us a little bit about what exactly GIZ is and does in general, and then about CASE for Southeast Asia, what, what that is and finally about SIPET. 

Maximilian Heil: Sure. So, GIZ is the German Development Corporation. We implement projects mainly on behalf of the German government globally. And I'm working on the project CASE which stands for Clean, Affordable, and Secure Energy for Southeast Asia. It's a regional project. It's financed by the International Climate Initiative of the German government. We work across Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Together with international and national partners, we implement the project in a consortium. And all of our members are consisting of GIZ, Agora Energiewende and New Climate Institute in Germany. And we also have leading Think Thanks from the region who implement jointly with us. IESR in Indonesia, ICSC in the Philippines, ERI and TDRI in Thailand. And our goal really is to support Southeast Asia path to carbon neutrality without compromising on energy security and affordability. And how do we do that? We do that by strengthening evidence, building narratives, and enabling strategic dialogue.

 We produce research, engage stakeholders across sectors, not only in the energy sector and support technical planning also, and most importantly by promoting transparency and access to data. And I think that's what we also going to talk a little bit more today. 

Joseph Jacobelli: Right. And what about you mentioned, SIPET could you explain a little bit about this platform and why it was actually set up? And then we are going to get into a little bit more about the platform. 

Maximilian Heil: Sounds good. So SIPET stands for Southeast Asia Information Platform for the Energy transition. And we launched it in 2020 as a response to a real gap in the region because there's a lot of great research happening, reports are being produced and initiatives taking place.

But there were fragmented and really hard to track. So what we found, I mean, in 2020 we did a markets study. We interviewed experts from the region, and we saw how fragmented the information landscape was on the energy transition. And SIPET really aims to change that by connecting data with people.

It's an open access, interactive platform. With tools that map projects, track policies, and host regionwide insights to make a transition more coordinated and informed. SIPET really tries to bring that all together so it's a knowledge hub, a connector, helping stakeholders access timely information, learn from each other, and align efforts.

And it's also built around three main tools, the knowledge hub where you find the recent publications on the energy transition in the region there, you can also sign up for a newsletter. So you find the recent news on any new developments. Then the second big tool is the project mapping tool where we map different projects.

And the third one is the power sector resources, which is a repository of different data tools. Which provide insights on the energy transition. So, I mean, ultimately, SIPET is not just a platform, but it's meant to be a long-term regional resource. And actually we are also currently scouting for partners who are interested in taking over the operation of SIPET in 2026. So if any of your listeners are interested, they should get in touch with me. 

Joseph Jacobelli: That's great. And I will also emphasize that in, in the show notes as well, but one interesting thing was how this conversation came about right, was that we were having a discussion and I thought that one major gap was really for investors to find information about, what projects are available, et cetera. Sure, there is information out there, but it's very, very fragmented. Very scattered. Some of it you really have to get from investment banks, which means, at the end of the day, you have to pay for, for it.

And then Max, he said, oh, well, guess what? We don't have, a full list and a full comprehensive database. But we've got this, and I got really, really excited and I thought we should talk about it. So talking about SIPET itself how does the project mapping tool actually help in, mitigating the isolated planning and duplication of efforts among different stakeholders. The kind of fragmented issues I was talking about, and what kind of information is actually available on this particular tool.

Maximilian Heil: That's a very good question. And so what we did we created a project mapping tool, which is essentially a regional dashboard on who's doing what, where, and with who in the energy space.

It tries to map all donor funded technical assistance research projects, and financial support in Southeast Asia. And today we have mapped nearly 500 projects on the platform representing over 45 billion US dollar in investments. And by making this visible SIPET really helps avoid overlapping efforts, identify synergies, and encourages strategic alignment.

So you can filter, for example the projects by topic. You can see like who's working on energy efficiency renewable energy on battery energy battery storage or just transition. You can also filter by country. You can filter by implementer, by donor. And they even many more filters. And what I think is really interesting actually.

Because you were saying for most of the time you need to pay for this kind of information. We even provide contact details of people who work on the project so you can directly get in touch with them and learn more about their activities. So this is really useful, not only for donors, but also for implementers and governments from the region.

And it's really a simple tool, but it can have a very big impact. 

Joseph Jacobelli: Right. And how does SIPET facilitate collaboration knowledge sharing amongst, different stakeholders in the southeast Asia region's energy transition? And what are some of the kinds of key challenges that it tries to address? 

Maximilian Heil: So when we designed SIPET, we had different user groups in mind, right? On the one side policy makers who are looking for best practices. Researchers, which were scanning for potential research gaps and donors, which needed a strategic overview to avoid any duplications or who could also make use and see like which projects are working well, and which could be actually also implement in other countries.

And also for the civil society, of course, who want to engage on energy debates. So what makes SIPET useful is, it doesn't just store information, but it links it back to official documents, regulations, and as I said, people who are working on the projects. And the tool which we just launched, the power policy tracker, for instance, shows national targets for renewable energy generation in all ASEAN member states.

And it shows also grid development plans or EV targets sales targets. And it connects them with the actual legal text. So you can really refer back to that. And you were also asking about the challenge, so. As you, and again, I mean, as you said, the biggest challenge here for us is really the fragmentation.

So I also really appreciate that we are speaking today and speaking about our platform and sharing SIPET also with your listeners because I think there's a lot of knowledge in the region, but it's scattered and SIPET really tries to bring that together. 

Joseph Jacobelli: So what kind of role does SIPET actually play in promoting regional collaboration,

Integration in the energy sector in general? 

Maximilian Heil: So in this region seems to be increasingly focused on interconnected grids and markets. SIPET really supports this regional dialogue on the energy transition with facts, and it tracks what's happening across ASEAN member states. You can also see who basically is trying to be the, the most ambitious.

And it really spots where alignment is possible and identifies trends. So with the tools like the power policy tracker, we provide side by side overviews of energy policies. And that's incredibly valuable for ministries, regulators, and also regional bodies, especially if they want to harmonize their efforts.

I mean, we also use SIPET to support regional events and workshops. And there again, I really want to highlight that we try to be an enabler for the energy transition community here in the region. So we really benefit from people contacting us, providing us with content so that it can be shared with the SIPET community.

Joseph Jacobelli: Right. And as an often mentioned, and the reason why I've written one book and I'm, in the process of writing the second book is about capacity building. I think capacity building is, is, is a little bit misunderstood. I mean, people think it's a necessary evil, but actually to me it is what is going to enable the energy transition because, there's a lot of information out there, there's a lot of dots to link together and that's quite difficult. And I think platforms such as SIPET will help in doing that. Just one final question before I ask you about specific examples. How does SIPET engage with the various stakeholders? Whether it's governments or private sector or civil society, et cetera, to actually drive the energy transition in Southeast Asia. 

Maximilian Heil: So what we try is really to take an inclusive approach. So SIPET is not a product of CASE, but it's a platform co-developed with partners from the region. So for governments SIPET can be a transparency and coordination tool.

For development partners and donors, it can be a strategic overview and for civil society and also journalists, it's base uh, to engage on energy debates. So at our recent launch of our new tool, we had experts from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, who contributed directly to the tool's development.

And that really, I mean, showcases the co-creation, which is key for the success of SIPET. 

Joseph Jacobelli: Right. That's great. And, and just to emphasize, when we're talking about stakeholders, really, we're talking about not just governments, but we're also talking about basically any stakeholder. It could be a private company it can be an infrastructure fund; it can be, it can be really anybody.

So maybe could we move on to some actual examples, to put a little bit of colour on all of this. Do you have examples of the energy transition efforts in Southeast Asia that SIPET has helped to highlight or to, or to document? 

Maximilian Heil: Yes. I mean there are many small initiatives which you can find, especially on our database, but I really want to give some bigger, like big two examples.

 One example is our work around the just energy transition partnerships, the JETP, in Vietnam and Indonesia. At the time when they were adopted, there was no dedicated regional repository highlighting the current developments in Vietnam, in Indonesia. So what we did was to create. A subpage that consolidates the key actors, the commitments and developments tied to each JETP, making it easier for the region to follow up on these evolving finance and policy frameworks.

Another example is in a more practical sense, where we did the Energy Transition Finance series an interview series which we launched through our SIPET Connect newsletter, and it breaks down regional financing trends from catalytic funding to carbon markets and blended finance models and how they contribute to the energy transition.

So the idea here was to really demystify finance by translating complex topics into accessible insights for policy makers, for implementers, and also for the civil society and the like. And I think that also really connects to the capacity building topic you have just. Touched on, and I mean, these are just two examples.

 How SIPET doesn't only track the energy transition but also help shape how it's understood and how you can act up on. 

Joseph Jacobelli: And does the platform also list projects? I mean, if people are interested to look at what kind of projects are available does the platform actually list that? And if so, could you provide one, one or two examples 

Maximilian Heil: in terms of the project, as I said, like these are mostly projects from, or all of them are donor funded projects.

So you can look out for a project in Laos, which supports the local community on energy efficient refrigerators, for example. And you could find out who's working on that, who's financing that. And then you can see like, oh, actually this would also make sense in the Philippines. So you could actually get in touch with the people and try to also have a similar approach somewhere else in the region. Mm., these projects are very specific, so it's really hard, to give like specific examples on the projects because they differ quite a lot also in their magnitude and also in their financial basis.

Joseph Jacobelli: And the projects could be anything, could be an energy efficiency project, a solar project, or it could be anything related to basically, basically energy transition related 

Maximilian Heil: projects. Exactly. It could also be a network of people who work on energy regulation in the region in that specific national context where they get funding for creating a peer network, a community of practice, to exchange on their national energy regulations to increase the share of renewable energies, to increase flexibility in the grids.

That will be another example of a project.

Joseph Jacobelli: That's great. Well Max, if I can move to kind of the last, the last question, which is what is your personal outlook on the clean energy transition in Southeast Asia? In general, given that at least SIPET has been around for five years and in particular, actually maybe if I can change the question and say what changes have you seen over the past five years? What kind of evolution have you seen and what is your outlook for the next 25 years if you were to guess? 

Maximilian Heil: It's a really nice question and it's also this kind of fortune teller question.

Yes, yes. But I really like it, and I really want to try to be realistically optimistic. So what I've been seeing as long as I've been in the region that Southeast Asia is making progress and sometimes faster than we expected, but sometimes also slower than we hoped. But the direction is clear and one of the signals comes really from the outside of the region.

So the global energy landscape is changing dramatically. What we have seen with the Russian invasion of Ukraine energy security has returned as a top political priority worldwide, and volatility in gas and oil prices recently also impacted by the tensions between Israel and Iran have really shown how vulnerable many economies still are.

And for Southeast Asia, this is both a challenge, but also an opportunity really to reduce import dependencies and scale up domestic clean energy. At the same time we see that solar panel prices have been falling, but we now see similar trends on battery costs, which are also declining immensely.

Mm-hmm. And electrification, especially in transport, is no longer just policy driven, but it's really market driven. And the EV adoption in China is a really great example because it's now really influencing global demand patterns, including here in Southeast Asia.

But we also really need to acknowledge that investments in renewables in Southeast Asia still lag behind the global trends, right?

That's where initiatives like ours, is really trying to come in, increasing the visibility, supporting better coordination, and helping to turn ambition really into action. And there's also signs I mean, of growing institutional support. So we see that the International Energy Agency is setting up a regional centre in Singapore, and that really highlights the strategic importance of Southeast Asia.

Then we see more on ASEAN level this year, Malaysia, having the  chairmanship. They just adopted a couple of weeks ago. The Vision 2045 and the ASEAN Plan, plan of action on Energy Corporation will be adopted in October. And this is really a momentum to align national and regional planning. Importantly that that's really a momentum around transmission and cross border power trades we are seeing.

So we are also involved on the discussions and support on the ASEAN Power Grid, and this really becomes a big priority through CASE. We are working very closely with the ASEAN Centre for Energy to support this with technical input, with mapping and with coordination. So I can agree the transition is complex, but the ingredients for success are falling.

So the tech costs, the regional frameworks and growing shifts from being reactive to more proactive planning, which is really great. And personally, I really believe this is exactly the moment for Southeast Asia, not just to follow the energy transition, but really to become the architect behind it, behind its own path, and that also reflects its economic growth ambitions meeting the rising energy demand in the region. And also creating jobs for the growing population. So the workforce also needs to be ready and be made ready for the net zero ambitions of the countries. So from my perspective, the energy transition can become really the cornerstone for an inclusive long-term development in Southeast Asia. 

Joseph Jacobelli: And also for those not familiar with Southeast Asia, it's worth emphasizing that we are talking about an area with 600 million people.

So w which is very different. I mean, 10 countries in each country, different languages, different political systems, different everything. But at the end of the day, there is some kind of coordination, not just, not like the EU, but there is. Coordination going on, and that coordination has been kind of growing progressively, slowly, but progressively over the last few years.

 The example that you made about of there is a. Particular project in Laos, maybe those specs may be able to work somewhere else, like the Philippines or Indonesia for example. So that's great. Cool. And do, do you have any final thoughts or some concluding remarks?

Key takeaways, Max? 

Maximilian Heil: I think what I really want maybe another call for action also to your listeners to please. Have a look at SIPET.org. Check it out. And also provide us with feedback. We also look for users who provide us with feedback so the platform can become even better. And, if you see that your project is not listed there, also get in touch, share your information.

As I said, this is a really co-creation project, so we really are dependent on our community who works on the energy transition.

Joseph Jacobelli: That's fantastic. Well, thank you so much for your time. I know you're in the middle of a few events, et cetera, so I appreciate you carving out a little bit of time for this particular podcast and we will hopefully talk again soon about SIPET in a while. 

Maximilian Heil: Thanks, Joseph.

Joseph Jacobelli: Thank you.