Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) have joined forces to establish the ENABLE platform, a $750,000 initiative aimed at accelerating BESS deployment across the region.
The ENABLE (Enhancing Access to Battery Energy Storage System for Low-carbon Economies) platform will be administered by ADB, drawing on $500,000 from the Smart Energy Innovation Fund under the Clean Energy Financing Partnership Facility and an additional $250,000 from GEAPP. Its objective is to dismantle existing technical, regulatory, and financial barriers that hinder the deployment of large-scale storage solutions, particularly in rapidly developing economies.
With solar energy expected to account for two-thirds of APAC’s renewable expansion, the challenge lies not only in deploying generation capacity but also in ensuring that electricity networks can absorb and manage variable supply. Battery storage technologies play a critical role here—enabling time-shifting of solar output, improving load management, and deferring costly grid upgrades. However, utility-scale BESS projects often face high capital expenditure, uncertain regulatory pathways, and limited access to concessional finance.
ENABLE is designed to bridge these gaps through a multi-pronged approach. The platform will offer technical assistance, support for pilot project preparation, and capacity-building efforts targeting policymakers, utilities, and developers. Notably, the platform will explore private-led grid-scale BESS integration studies and push for standardization in procurement and technical specifications—both essential steps to scale deployment and reduce costs.
Initially, ENABLE will prioritize Vietnam, Mongolia, and Cambodia, countries where energy demand is rising rapidly and where renewables already play a significant but volatile role in the generation mix. Each faces distinct energy challenges. Vietnam, for instance, saw a surge in solar adoption between 2019 and 2021, straining grid infrastructure in the absence of parallel storage development. In Mongolia, the expansion of renewables is constrained by seasonal variability and an aging coal-dominated grid. Cambodia, meanwhile, is in the early stages of renewable deployment but is rapidly scaling up solar capacity, with implications for dispatchability and reliability.
Beyond physical deployment, ENABLE will also examine the integration of digital tools such as AI to optimize storage operations and predictive maintenance. This digital component may be key to improving system economics and reducing operational risk, particularly in regions where technical expertise and grid data availability remain limited.
The platform’s emphasis on business model innovation could also be critical. By encouraging new approaches to financing and revenue generation—such as capacity markets, ancillary services remuneration, and hybrid solar-storage tariffs—ENABLE aims to catalyze investment that might otherwise be deterred by long payback periods or market uncertainty.
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