ADB unveils $70b plan for Asia power grids, digital networks
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will back $70 billion in new energy and digital infrastructure initiatives by 2035, aiming to connect power grids, expand cross-border electricity trade, and improve broadband access across Asia and the Pacific.
“Energy and digital access will define the region’s future,” said ADB President Masato Kanda.
“These two initiatives build the systems Asia and the Pacific need to grow, compete, and connect. By linking power grids and digital networks across borders, we can lower costs, expand opportunity, and bring reliable power and digital access to hundreds of millions of people,” he said.
The Pan-Asia Power Grid Initiative will connect national and sub-regional power systems so renewable energy can flow across borders, while the Asia-Pacific Digital Highway will help close the digital infrastructure gap and enable the region to benefit from AI-driven growth, said an ADB press release.
Under the Pan-Asia Power Grid Initiative, ADB will work with governments, utilities, the private sector, and development partners to mobilize $50 billion by 2035 for cross-border power infrastructure that can unlock renewable energy at scale.
The initiative will focus on transmission and grid integration, including cross-border lines, substations, storage, and grid digitalization. It will also support power generation linked to electricity trade, including renewable energy export projects, regional renewable hubs, and hybrid generation-storage facilities.
By 2035, ADB aims to integrate about 20 gig watts of renewable energy across borders, connect 22,000 circuit-kilometers of transmission lines, improve energy access for 200 million people, create 840,000 jobs, and cut regional power sector emissions by 15 per cent.
ADB expects to finance about half of the $50 billion initiative from its own resources and raise the rest through financing, including from the private sector.
