The development of the next ASEAN Energy Outlook (AEO) edition has been progressing rapidly for the past few months. From February to mid-March, a set of country visits with all 10 ASEAN Member States (AMS) was concluded virtually. In these sessions, the team finalised the data gaps, modelling approach and assumptions. Two capacity-building programmes were also organised for the AEO team to support the development of the AEO 7 publication. The activities included:

• Effective Report Writing Training held once/twice a week between February 25^th until April 5^th, and
• Data Visualisation Training, supported by the Clean, Affordable and Secure Energy for Southeast Asia (CASE) regional project which was held weekly from May 20^th to June 13^th.

On April 25^th – 27^th 2022, the second AEO Workshop was held back-to-back with the Capacity Building for AMS on Energy Modelling with LEAP (Low Emissions Analysis Platform). The workshop, attended by around 40 participants from 8 AMS including the AEO Working Group and focal points from Specialised Energy Bodies (SEBs) and Sub-sector Networks (SSNs), was set to present the updates and initial results of AEO modelling works. While the capacity building was set to improve the understanding of LEAP which also marked the first time AGEP supported ACE to deliver its training material without an external provider.

Throughout June and July, the team conducted 2 sets of consultation meetings with the AEO consultant, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), which happens to be the developer of LEAP. Besides finalising the AEO model and results across all scenarios: Baseline scenario, AMS Target Scenario (ATS), APAEC target Scenario (APS), and Least-cost Optimisation (LCO), several topics were also discussed to improve and shape the AEO quality such as optimisation, the penetration of emerging technologies, and secondary analysis.

AGEP will continue its support in the finalisation phase by bringing in an expert copy editor and layout designer to prepare the flagship publication, the 7th ASEAN Energy Outlook (AEO7), for launching at the 40^th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) later in September this year. (MW)