Nuclear power plants could be commissioned in Southeast Asia beginning around 2035, primarily in Indonesia, increasing the region’s installed nuclear commercial capacity from zero to as much as 13 GW.

According to the International Energy Agency’s Southeast Asia Energy Outlook 2024, two different scenarios show that Southeast Asia could have either 6 GW or 13 GW by 2050.

The two scenarios are the stated policies scenario, or Steps, which indicates the direction of travel for the energy sector based on today’s policies, and the announced pledges scenario (APS), which starts from the same detailed reading of government policies, but takes a different view on their implementation.

The Paris-based intergovernmental agency says nuclear power is not a large part of today’s energy mix in Southeast Asia, but its projects some nuclear power in the region by 2050, led by countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam that are already exploring nuclear power deployment options.