Indonesia’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia said on September 22, 2026, at MKI Electricity Connect 2026 in Tangerang, that Indonesia has not signed an electricity interconnection agreement with Malaysia under the ASEAN Power Grid because the proposed terms do not yet share benefits fairly. The statement affects a regional cross-border power trade initiative that the minister described as a commitment made at the ASEAN Summit in Manila.
Key Facts At A Glance
- Indonesia has not signed an electricity interconnection agreement with Malaysia under the ASEAN Power Grid.
- Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said the pricing scheme does not yet deliver fair benefits to both countries.
- Malaysia’s energy minister had contacted Bahlil about moving the ASEAN Power Grid forward.
- Bahlil said the power grid was among the commitments made at the ASEAN Summit in Manila.
- He said Indonesia appears to be the remaining party that has not signed, and that he will sign once the terms are mutually beneficial.
- Indonesia remains open to exporting electricity to ASEAN countries on fair terms.
- The remarks were made on September 22, 2026, at MKI Electricity Connect 2026, held at ICE BSD in Tangerang.
Indonesia has not signed an electricity interconnection agreement with Malaysia under the ASEAN Power Grid, according to Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia. He said the proposed cooperation scheme does not yet give both countries a fair share of the gains. He made the remarks on September 22, 2026, at MKI Electricity Connect 2026, held at ICE BSD in Tangerang.
The government is still discussing the cooperation scheme, Bahlil said, and Malaysia’s energy minister had contacted him about moving the ASEAN Power Grid forward. He described the power grid as one of the commitments made at the ASEAN Summit in Manila. The ASEAN Power Grid would enable electricity interconnection and trade among ASEAN member states.
Bahlil said Indonesia is reportedly the only party that has not yet signed. He said he has not signed because, by his calculation, the arrangement is not yet mutually beneficial, and that he will sign once it is. He added that an arrangement in which one party receives 70 percent of the benefit and the other 30 percent would not meet that standard. According to Bahlil, cooperation in electricity trade must give every participating country proportional benefits.
Bahlil also said Indonesia remains open to exporting electricity to ASEAN countries, provided the benefits are shared fairly. He said cross-border cooperation is needed to strengthen regional energy security.
Publicly available details remain limited to the minister’s remarks at the event. The reports did not disclose the proposed pricing scheme, the specific interconnection route or capacity under discussion, the name of Malaysia’s energy minister in the exchange, or a timeline for a decision. Reporting was confined to Indonesian media coverage of the September 22 remarks, and no official statement from the Malaysian government on the matter was available in the sources reviewed.