Insights and Commentaries
SEACA Workshop III Recap
26th September 2024
On August 27th and 28th, the Global CCS Institute hosted the third Southeast Asia CCS Accelerator (SEACA) workshop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Bringing together key CCS leaders and ideas, the event sparked dynamic conversation and grappled with some of the pressing issues for CCS in the region.
Southeast Asia – facing the interconnected challenge of achieving decarbonisation, economic growth, and a continued reliance on carbon-intensive industries - remains a key geography for the deployment of CCS. In many parts of Asia, geological storage resources are a limiting factor — some countries have abundant storage capacity, while others have very little. SEACA III therefore focused on developing a transnational Asian CCS value chain to facilitate cross-border CCS projects.
While CCS projects are being developed in this region, gaps remain across regulations and policy, transport, and financing. These gaps are not insurmountable and SEACA provided an opportunity for government and industry leaders working on CCS across Southeast Asia to share information, collaborate, and build relationships to address them.
Day One: Opportunities for a Transnational Value Chain
Day one of the workshop opened with welcoming remarks from Alex Zapantis, General Manager of External Affairs at the Global CCS Institute, and Malaysian Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Economy, YBhg. Dato' Luqman bin Ahmad, and several other key delegates on transnational CCS. The speakers framed the deployment opportunity ahead, highlighting the importance of collaboration, particularly in an increasingly competitive space. Common themes included regulatory stability, government-to-government agreements, and policy incentives.
The first panel featured representatives from the Governments of Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Timor-Leste, and a delegate from the Korean CCUS Association. Speakers on the panel covered their respective Governments’ approaches to CCS regulations and policy alignment. It is increasingly clear that regional governments are viewing CCS through the lens of dual economic and decarbonisation opportunities, with representatives on the panel from Malaysia and Indonesia discussing their efforts to expedite MoUs and establish their respective jurisdictions as regional storage hubs. Partnership and collaboration, once again, emerged as the overarching themes.
As a practical example of regional collaboration, event partners ANGEA and the ASEAN Centre for Energy signed an MoU to frame their collaboration moving forward.
The afternoon session saw experts from Allen & Overy Shearman, Ashurst, and the IEAGHG explore international agreements, long-term liability for CO2 storage, and potential revenue models for the value chain. This set the stage for the final session, which examined the agreements necessary for cross-border CO2 storage. Representatives from ExxonMobil, Santos, Shell, Air Liquide, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), and PETRONAS discussed the role of government-to-government agreements. Drawing on lessons from Europe, panellists addressed regulatory harmonisation, carbon accounting, and the need for agreements to cover all aspects of the value chain, including transport.
Day one concluded with a Gala Dinner, where Malaysia’s Minister of Economy, H.E. Mr Rafizi Ramli, outlined the country’s vision for CCS. He said Malaysia would pioneer a new economic paradigm in Southeast Asia, balancing economic interests with its mission to achieve net-zero. The Minister also announced that a standalone CCUS bill would be introduced to Parliament in November.
Day Two: Carbon Accounting, Technical Requirements, and International Investment
Day 2 shifted focus to more technical territory. In the first session of the day, ANGEA hosted panellists from IETA, Mistubishi Research Institute, and ExxonMobil, to discuss carbon accreditation for CCS projects. Once again, speakers coalesced around the need to establish clear government-to-government agreements in order to provide the flexibility for commercial agreements to proceed. Panellists discussed market diversification, certification standards, issues of double-counting, long-term liability, and low-carbon fuels.
The second session of the day hosted panellists from BP Asia Pacific, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K-LINE), Shell, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Chevron, and PETRONAS. Panellists presented and answered a range of questions on safety, operational efficiency, and common standards.
Finally, the workshop concluded with a discussion on international collaboration, financial support, and investment opportunities. Speakers from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) highlighted funding mechanisms and initiatives to accelerate CCS deployment in hard-to-abate sectors across the region and discussed opportunities for new funding mechanisms and grants.
Alex Zapantis provided closing remarks, emphasising the importance of continued cooperation between governments, industry, and international organisations to achieve the region's net-zero targets through a coordinated CCS strategy.
The Institute thanks event partners, the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) and the Asia Natural Gas & Energy Association (ANGEA) for their efforts in realising the SEACA program.
Presentations from the event can be found on the Institute’s members’ portal here.