ADB Launches Fund to Accelerate ASEAN Power Grid
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched a new multi-partner trust fund to finance project preparation work for cross-border energy and transmission infrastructure across Southeast Asia, marking the first facility of its kind in the region.
Announced in Manila on 7 April 2026, the Regional Connectivity Fund for Energy in Southeast Asia (RCF) is intended to advance the ASEAN Power Grid, the regional bloc's flagship initiative to achieve fully integrated electricity grid operations by 2045. The fund has launched with initial contributions equivalent to approximately USD 25 million from the governments of Australia, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom, and from the European Union.
"The ASEAN Power Grid is one of Southeast Asia's greatest opportunities, with the potential to deliver energy security for nearly 700 million people and power the region's growth," said ADB President Masato Kanda. He described the launch as "a decisive step toward accelerating high-quality ASEAN Power Grid investments and turning regional ambition into action."
Fund scope
The RCF will be managed by ADB in close collaboration with the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund (AIF) Board and ASEAN member states. It is delivered under the AIF, described by ADB as Southeast Asia's largest regionally owned infrastructure financing platform, and is intended to help the AIF expand its scale and impact. The AIF was established in 2011 by ASEAN member states and ADB to help close the region's infrastructure investment gap.
The fund will provide technical assistance and project readiness financing grants covering the early stages of energy infrastructure project development. This includes feasibility studies, engineering design, financial structuring, and environmental and social safeguards assessments. It will also finance activities related to policy advice, regulatory improvements, capacity building, and knowledge sharing to strengthen the enabling environment for the ASEAN Power Grid. ADB has stated that the RCF is intended to ensure projects are well-designed, bankable, and aligned with ASEAN members' priorities.
Wider ASEAN Power Grid programme
The ASEAN Power Grid is designed to connect the electricity networks of the 10 ASEAN member countries, enabling cross-border power trading and the integration of renewable generation including solar, wind and hydropower. Southeast Asia's energy demand is projected to triple by 2050, and ADB has positioned the grid as central to meeting that demand with reliable and affordable supply.
ADB has pledged up to USD 10 billion over the next 10 years toward the ASEAN Power Grid and related investments, including cross-border power connections, national grid projects, and renewable energy initiatives that will facilitate regional electricity trading.
The RCF builds on a series of earlier steps. In October 2025, ADB launched the ASEAN Power Grid Financing Initiative (APGF) together with the ASEAN Secretariat, the ASEAN Centre for Energy, and the World Bank, to mobilise large-scale funding for cross-border power interconnections across land and seabed routes. ADB has also previously established a USD 4.2 million Technical Assistance facility supporting the grid, with contributions from the United Kingdom, the European Union, ADB's Clean Energy Fund under the Clean Energy Financing Partnership Facility, and the High Level Technology Fund.
In March 2026, ADB announced it was stepping up its support for ASEAN as the region's main development bank, with parallel initiatives spanning capital markets, AI readiness, the blue economy, and river basin resilience alongside the power grid programme.
