Coal-fired power plant in Mariveles, Bataan, Philippines on June 6, 2023.
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Data from Ember, a London-based energy think tank, shows that the Philippines’ reliance on coal-fired power surged 62% last year, surpassing China, Indonesia and Poland.
The Philippines will also be the most coal-dependent country in Southeast Asia by 2023, as adoption of renewable energy generation remains low. Last year, the share of coal in power generation in the country climbed to 61.9%, while in 2022 it will be 59.1%.
Overall, the country’s coal power generation also increased by 9.7%, higher than the 4.6% increase in electricity demand, the report said.
“Coal plays an important role in the Philippines’ energy security. Many new coal-fired power plants were built in the 1990s,” Dinita Setyawati, senior electricity policy analyst for Southeast Asia at Ember Climate, told CNBC. , to meet the growing demand for electricity.
Indonesia and the Philippines are the two most coal-dependent countries in Southeast Asia, and their dependence on coal is growing rapidly.
“To date, reliance on these coal-fired power plants continues.”
Indonesia, the world’s fifth largest coal producer, follows closely behind, with coal’s share of power generation reaching a new high in 2023, reaching 61.8%.
“Indonesia and the Philippines are the two most coal-dependent countries in Southeast Asia, and their dependence on coal is growing rapidly,” the report states, adding that coal dependence in Southeast Asia will rise to 2% from 31% in 2022. 33%.
China has made great strides in reducing its reliance on the dirtiest fossil fuels for power generation, with demand set to reach 60.7% in 2023, behind India’s 75.2% and Poland’s 61%. according to ember.
As the world’s largest coal producer, China has made significant progress in the development of renewable energy. As a result, emissions growth has slowed – from an annual average of 9% between 2001 and 2015 to an annual average of 4.4% between 2016 and 2023. Energy think tank May said clean electricity accounts for 35% of China’s total power generation.
Indonesia and Philippines lag behind in renewable energy
Indonesia and the Philippines are still years away from replacing coal as their main source of electricity generation, so adding renewable energy to their power mix is crucial.
“Renewable energy power generation growth in Indonesia and the Philippines is limited because they Wind and solar potential It is almost completely untapped,” the report said.
Ember noted that wind and solar power generation in the Philippines only increased from less than 1 terawatt hour in 2015 to 3.7 terawatt hours last year. This growth rate is significantly slower than growth in the rest of the region, where wind and solar generation increased by 46 TWh between 2015 and 2023, driven primarily by Vietnam, the report said.
“In Indonesia and the Philippines, expanding the use of renewable energy should go hand in hand with the end of coal-fired power generation,” Ember’s Setyawati told CNBC.
The Indonesian government must expand its renewable energy ambitions, she said, adding that new policies to promote solar and wind energy should be introduced.
“For example, incentives for rooftop solar users, relaxation of local content requirements for wind and solar generators and public research funding for solar and wind technologies.”
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