The nuclear energy fever has reached Southeast Asia, a region heavily dependent on coal and gas for electricity generation, with no operational nuclear reactors.

As nuclear power has seen a renaissance in many countries, except Germany, in recent years, Southeast Asia’s fast-growing economies have started to draft plans to use nuclear reactors to meet rising power demand while reducing carbon emissions.

While Asia, thanks to China and India, is leading global nuclear development and reactor buildout, the Southeast Asian region has yet to see its first nuclear reactor. This will probably happen at some point in the 2030s, and it’s likely to be the new small modular reactor (SMR) technology that will generate the bulk of the future nuclear electricity in the ASEAN economies.

Nuclear Energy Could Help Cut Coal Power Generation 

SMRs are believed to be simpler and cheaper to build and install. Because of their smaller size, it is possible to install SMRs on sites that are not suitable for bigger reactors. They are also significantly cheaper and faster to build than conventional reactors and can be constructed incrementally to meet the growing energy demand of a site.

Southeast Asian nations have a lot of planning, consent, public support, funding, and safety issues to address before installing the first-ever operational nuclear reactor of any kind.

But the promise of zero-emission electricity generation from nuclear energy isn’t one to pass up too quickly in the region where coal is king.

Vietnam, for example, leads regional peers such as Thailand and the Philippines in terms of solar and wind growth. But as power demand more than doubled over the past decade, Vietnam met this jump with a doubling of coal generation, which led to a tripling of emissions. The country has added 14 GW of coal power capacity since 2015 and had a total of 27.2 GW capacity as of the end of 2024 and another 5.9 GW of coal capacity under development, data from Global Energy Monitor (GEM) shows.

Vietnam also leads nuclear energy plans in Southeast Asia, according to a new report by Wood Mackenzie.

Vietnam plans capacity as early as 2030 and is likely to be the only country in the region to deploy a conventional pressurized water reactor (PWR) nuclear power plant, the energy consultancy forecasts.

The others will prefer SMRs in case their plans include nuclear energy, WoodMac says.

The Cost of Nuclear Energy

However, it will be a long road to Southeast Asia generating electricity from nuclear energy, according to Wood Mackenzie’s analysts.

Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, has included two 250 MW SMR units in its 10-year electricity supply plan, targeting 5% nuclear generation by 2040. The Philippines is exploring SMR deployment, aiming for 2.4 GW by 2050, although Wood Mackenzie predicts only half of this capacity will be achieved. Thailand is considering nuclear with 600 MW by 2037, expanding to 3 GW by 2050, when it will have a 5% share of the power generation mix.

In total, these nuclear ambitions will require $208 billion of investments to develop 25 GW of capacity by 2050, with SMR emerging as the preferred technology despite significantly higher costs, the energy consultancy has estimated. Developing a large conventional nuclear plant from first permitting to first power could take 10 to 30 years, and even more in a region that has never had one.

With only Vietnam considering a conventional PWR nuclear plant, “this limited adoption highlights the substantial financial and technical challenges associated with large-scale nuclear development in emerging markets,” WoodMac said.

“Regardless of upfront capital requirements, small modular reactors offer significant advantages in deployment speed and regulatory complexity,” said Robert Liew, Director, Asia Pacific (excluding China) for Renewables Research at Wood Mackenzie.

“Historically, permitting for large nuclear plants has taken five to 15 years, with construction adding another five to 15 years on top of that. In contrast, SMRs can move from approval to operation in just two to three years if supportive policies are already in place,” Liew added.

“That rapid timeline could be transformative for markets like Southeast Asia, where the demand for faster energy transitions is only intensifying.”

Despite the momentum in nuclear energy globally and nuclear capacity plans in Southeast Asia in particular, the countries have to overcome significant challenges on the path to low-emission 24/7 power from nuclear reactors.

“Regulatory gaps, public scepticism, geopolitical sensitivities, and limited technical capacity all constrain progress,” the Southeast Asia Public Policy Institute said in a report earlier this year.

While SMRs could offer potential solutions to some of these barriers, they cannot solve all the structural issues on their own.

“Real progress requires coordinated regional action and stronger political commitment,” the research institute said.

WoodMac’s Liew noted that “The success of the region’s nuclear dream will depend on developing appropriate regulatory frameworks and securing experienced international partners.”

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