Liyana is an economist based in Frontier Economics’ Singapore office specialising in economic regulation, energy markets and the energy transition. She has extensive experience advising regulators, businesses and policymakers across Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand on pricing, investment and policy issues in energy and utilities, transport, telecommunications sectors.
Economic regulation
Liyana supports regulators and regulated businesses on developing and assessing regulatory proposals, as well as developing regulatory frameworks. Her expertise includes modelling tariffs and efficient costs, financeability testing and incentive-based regulation.
Examples include:
- Building block model development and regulatory submission support for Gas Malaysia’s RP3 regulatory reset with Suruhanjaya Tenaga
- Tariff modelling, financeability assessments and incentive-based regulatory framework design for the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM), formerly MAVCOM, during Malaysia’s RP1 and RP2 periods
- Supporting electricity transmission networks on cost allocation exercises and supporting on Regulatory Investment Tests for Transmission (RIT-Ts) for transmission network operators in Australia
- Forecasting gas demand for energy regulators, taking into account fuel switching incentives and behaviours due to electrification
- Advising on stranded asset risk and decommissioning cost impacts on gas network businesses amid the energy transition
- Forecasting ceiling and floor price expectations by modelling the Depreciated Optimised Replacement Cost (DORC) for a rail network user in Australia
Energy market modelling and energy transition
Liyana regularly undertakes energy market modelling to support clients in forecasting wholesale electricity market dynamics, understanding investment needs and the impacts of various market design options. She has been involved in several major government reviews quantifying the impacts and pathway options towards net zero.
Key projects include:
- Modelling the end-to-end energy transition costs to 2050 for a Southeast Asian government client
- Benchmarking regulatory frameworks to balance electricity grid investment needs, financeability and affordability in the context of increasing renewable penetration for a government client in Southeast Asia
- Estimating the electricity system cost impacts of delayed transmission investments critical to renewable project integration in Australia
- Review of the New Zealand government’s electricity markets
- Development of Frontier Economics’ in-house energy42 electricity market models tailored to Southeast Asian energy markets
- Developing wholesale electricity price and Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) price forecasts to support Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and mark-to-market processes
- Advising on multi-asset hydrogen projects, including integrated modelling of hydrogen generation, storage and electrolyser operation within electricity markets
Business cases and policy advice
Liyana also regularly conducts economic impact assessments and policy evaluations for energy and broader government programs. She has developed business cases covering renewable fuels, infrastructure investments and legislative reforms, including specific projects such as:
- Business case development and economic impact assessment for renewable gas (biomethane) projects in New South Wales (NSW), Australia
- Valuing a broad set of economic, social and environmental costs and benefits (tangible and intangible) as part of an economic evaluation of flood mitigation project options in Victoria, Australia
- Economic impact analysis of submarine cable infrastructure projects for a global financing entity
- Review of energy efficiency schemes and Victorian Energy Upgrades programs for Australian state governments and regulators
- Evaluation of legislation impact, such as the dangerous goods reforms in Victoria, Australia and minimum unit pricing of alcohol in Northern Territory, Australia
- Reviews of Crown lands concession policies, minimum rents, and improvement funds for the NSW government to enhance financial returns and program effectiveness
We work as one team across the world
In Asia-Pacific, we do this from offices in Australia and Singapore. We work as a single team with expertise and people brought together as required by the problem we are solving for our clients. Reach out to any of our economists and consultants to find out how we can help you.
