Countries in Asia and the Pacific are committed to the Sustainable Development Goals and their Nationally Determined Contributions to realize the Paris Agreement, and many have set net-zero targets by mid-century. Since energy plays a crucial role in attaining these goals, the analysis and planning of energy systems must expand to factor in multidimensional variables. These include incorporating adequacy and affordability, and sustainability of energy production and consumption into supply and demand projections. Increasing numbers of innovative technologies and energy supply methods, and swiftly shifting energy consumption patterns, compound the difficulty of energy system planning. 

This Spotlight Session on Comprehensive Energy Planning for Sustainable Development and Net Zero Targets is important to identify the role of different technologies in meeting each country’s future energy needs. This includes analyzing the different technologies, elaborating sustainable energy strategies, and conducting studies for energy system mix and electricity sector development and management, energy investment planning and energy environment policy formulation. Comprehensive energy system planning enables the systematic analysis of factors to find optimal solutions in achieving energy, socio-economic, and climate goals.  Asian Development Bank (ADB), in partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is holding this Spotlight Session to inform on technology-neutral, integrated modelling tools that can assist in defining optimal energy generation profiles, accounting for environmental and external costs, and calculating financial viability of energy projects, among others. This session will also present the technology roadmaps Asian Development Bank conducted in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Pakistan.