Image: Banpu NEXT
In this interview with Energy-Storage.news, Colin Koon Peng Ho of Banpu NEXT explains why policy certainty now outweighs cost in APAC battery storage investment decisions, and discusses regulatory barriers, supply chain localisation and the most attractive BESS opportunities.
Policy certainty and regulatory mechanisms now outweigh cost considerations in battery energy storage investment decisions across Asia-Pacific (APAC), according to Colin Koon Peng Ho, head of energy generation and trading at Banpu NEXT.
Speaking ahead of the Energy Storage Summit Asia in Bangkok next month, Ho says that while technology costs continue to fall, the inherently dynamic revenue model of battery energy storage systems (BESS), spanning both physical dispatch and financial contracts, means policy certainty has become the dominant factor in investment decisions.
“Given the inherently dynamic revenue model nature of BESS involving both physical (charging and discharging) as well as financial (offtake/ancillary services contracts), I would say that policy certainty and regulatory mechanisms to encourage BESS developments would take priority in most investment decisions we see today,” Ho explains.
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He notes that mature markets with established liberalised frameworks continue to attract the bulk of capital.
“From that perspective, it’s usually the case that the more developed markets with a track record of stable and well-developed liberalised market environments are typically the most attractive destinations for BESS investments,” he says.
Within the APAC region, Japan has emerged as a leading example of this dynamic. The country’s Organisation for Cross-regional Coordination of Transmission Operators (OCCTO) selected 19 battery storage projects totalling 1,251MW in its third Long-Term Decarbonisation Power Sources Auction (LTDA) in May, awarding 20-year fixed-revenue contracts for capacity delivery beginning in FY2027.
Unlike the previous round, eligibility was limited to projects with a duration of 6-hours or more, demonstrating the market’s evolution toward longer-duration storage solutions that can provide more substantial grid-stabilisation services.
Despite growing momentum across the region, Ho identifies regulatory ambiguity around grid connection pathways as one of the most significant barriers to scaling utility-scale battery storage deployment across APAC.
“I would say that clarity around grid connection regulation considerations for assets such as front of meter, behind the meter, BESS co-located with renewables etc, would be the key factor impacting how we develop suitable revenue models for our projects,” he notes.
The challenge is particularly acute in Southeast Asia, where most electricity markets remain dominated by single-buyer models and state-controlled utilities.
Ho says that while the technical and commercial case for storage is increasingly clear, the pace of regulatory reform will determine whether the region can capitalise on its renewable energy potential.
“From a Southeast Asia perspective, given most markets are single buyer state-controlled, an increased pace in opening up the grid access and providing suitable revenue models would be the key driver for accelerating growth between 2028 and 2030,” he explains.
Supply chain and investment outlook
Banpu NEXT, a smart energy solutions provider in the Asia-Pacific region and a subsidiary of the Thailand-based integrated energy company Banpu Public Company Limited, continues to depend on established global manufacturers for essential battery storage components.
However, the company anticipates that localisation will accelerate as regional manufacturing capacity develops.
“In general, I would say that traditional BESS supply chains involving the world’s largest manufacturers still play a key role in our procurement decision making, and this is supplemented with the necessary local content requirements as part of local government tender rules,” Ho says.
Ho anticipates a shift in procurement patterns as local manufacturing scales and cost competitiveness improves.
“I would expect in the near future, as local BESS manufacturing capacity ramps up and all-in cost competitiveness gains traction, that we would see more local procurement as a percentage of total project costs,” he notes.
The trend aligns with broader industrial policy shifts across APAC, where governments are increasingly tying renewable energy and storage tenders to domestic content requirements and local job creation targets.
Looking ahead to 2028-2030, utility-scale grid-connected battery storage and selective co-located models represent the most attractive investment opportunities for Banpu NEXT, driven by high renewable energy penetration rates and the urgent need for grid capacity upgrades across the region.
“Given the high renewables penetration rate and need for grid capacity upgrades that we see today, utility-scale grid-connected and selective co-located models present the most attractive opportunities we see,” he explains.
However, Ho emphasises that realising this potential will require coordinated action across policy, market design, and grid infrastructure.
Energy-Storage.news publisher Solar Media (part of the Informa Group) will host the upcoming Energy Storage Summit Asia 2026 on 1-3 July at QSNCC, Bangkok, Thailand. The conference takes place during ASIA Sustainable Energy Week 2026 (ASEW), the region’s most influential platform for driving clean energy. Our readers can enjoy an exclusive 20% discount on tickets using the code ESN20 at checkout. For more information, visit the official website.
