The Manila-based multilateral lender Asian Development Bank (ADB) has urged countries in Asia-Pacific to accelerate regional power connectivity as mounting geopolitical tensions, soaring electricity demand, as well as energy security risks threaten economic growth and household welfare across the region.

Speaking at the opening of the Asia Clean Energy Forum (ACEF) 2026 on Tuesday, June 9, ADB president Masato Kanda said the region can no longer rely on fragmented national energy systems amid rising global uncertainties, including the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

“We have been painfully reminded in recent weeks that, when it comes to energy security, no country can go it alone,” Kanda said.

“We must build a power system that connects our economies, strengthens our resilience, and delivers energy across the region. Delay will mean higher prices, weaker growth, and lost opportunities for millions of people,” he added.

Kanda said the conflict in the Middle East has exposed significant vulnerabilities in the Asia-Pacific region, where many economies remain heavily dependent on imported fuel and long supply chains.

“We are living through a new normal defined by compounding global shocks, and our energy sector is standing right on the front lines,” he said.

“The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is delivering a direct hit to the global economic engine. For our region, which sits at the end of long and fragile supply chains, this is a massive vulnerability,” Kanda added.

At the same time, electricity demand across the region is projected to nearly double by 2030, driven by economic growth, rapid urbanization, increasing electrification, and the expansion of power-intensive artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.

Kanda also noted that more than 350 million people in Asia-Pacific still have limited access to electricity, while over 53 million remain without power.

To address these challenges, the ADB is advancing the Pan-Asia Power Grid Initiative (PAGI), which seeks to connect national and regional power systems as well as facilitate multilateral electricity trade across borders.

“PAGI is our answer to a fragmented world,” Kanda said.

“It shifts Asia and the Pacific away from small-scale, bilateral projects and moves us toward coordinated, region-wide multilateral power trade. An interconnected regional system acts as a collective shield. It allows surplus clean energy generated in one country to seamlessly balance the deficit in another,” he added.

Launched during the 59th ADB annual meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, last month, PAGI aims to mobilize $50 billion by 2035 to build cross-border transmission infrastructure and strengthen regional energy security.

According to the ADB, half of the funding target, or $25 billion, will come from its own balance sheet.

The initiative is expected to connect 22,000 circuit-kilometers (ckm) of transmission lines across borders, integrate 20 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy (RE) into a regional power system, reduce power-sector emissions by 15 percent, and help create 840,000 jobs.

Whether through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Power Grid, South Asian connectivity projects, or Caspian Green Energy Corridor linking Central Asia and Europe, Kanda said regional interconnection would allow countries to better manage supply disruptions as well as improve access to affordable and reliable electricity.

To recall, Manila Bulletin reported that the ADB is preparing a $10-million technical assistance (TA) grant to support the initial implementation of PAGI, including project preparation, policy coordination, and institutional frameworks needed to accelerate cross-border power trade across Asia-Pacific.

Kanda said public funds alone would be insufficient to finance the region’s energy transition, particularly as governments face tighter fiscal conditions and rising debt burdens.

“The large pools of capital required for this transition exist right now in the private sector. The problem isn’t a lack of global capital; it is a lack of an enabling environment and the absence of real de-risking mechanisms,” he said.

To help bridge the funding gap, the ADB plans to increase its private-sector financing fourfold to $13 billion annually by 2030 as well as deploy blended finance, first-loss capital, and expanded guarantee instruments to attract more private investment into energy infrastructure.

The ADB mobilized about $3.4 billion for energy projects and investments across the Asia-Pacific region last year.

For Kanda, the success of PAGI would be measured not by financing volumes or transmission lines built, but by its impact on people’s lives.

“Ultimately, all of these billions of dollars, these thousands of kilometers of transmission lines, and these advanced AI systems are about one thing: people,” Kanda said.

“They are about the 200 million people who will gain improved, reliable, and clean electricity access for the first time because we chose to build connected pathways,” he added.