ADB ID, PH team up for ETM launch

ASIA PACIFIC

Asian Development Bank (ADB), Indonesia, and the Philippines announced the launch of a new partnership to establish an Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM) in Indonesia and the Philippines.

The announcement was made by ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa, Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, and Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez at the COP26 summit on 3 November.

The partnership was endorsed by senior cabinet-level officials from Denmark, the UK, and the US, as well as leading global financial institutions and philanthropies. Vice-Minister for International Affairs Masato Kanda announced Japan’s Ministry of Finance committed a grant of $25m to ETM, the first seed financing for the mechanism.

“ETM is an ambitious plan that will upgrade Indonesia’s energy infrastructure and accelerate the clean energy transition toward net-zero emissions in a just and affordable manner,” said Indrawati.

“A clean energy transition in the Philippines will create jobs, promote national growth, and lower global emissions,” added Dominguez. “ETM has the potential to accelerate the retirement of coal plants by at least 10 to 15 years on average.”

Energy demand in Asia is set to double by 2030, and Southeast Asia is one of the regions continuing to build new coal-fired capacity. Some 67% of Indonesia’s electricity and 57% of the Philippines’ power generation comes from coal. Indonesia has committed to reducing emissions by 29% by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2060. The government of the Philippines recently announced plans to place a moratorium on new coalfired power plants.

ETM partnership announcement at the COP26 summit

Energy demand in Asia will double by 2030, and SEA continues to build new coal-fired capacity

Singapore to phase out unabated coal power by 2050

SINGAPORE

Singapore joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) at the 26th Conference of Parties (COP-26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Glasgow on 4 November.

Singapore is one of the 27 new members and one of the first countries in Asia to do so. Singapore also signed the Global Coal to Clean Power Transition statement initiated by the UK COP-26 Presidency.

Under the PPCA Declaration, Singapore has committed to continue phasing out the use of unabated coal in its electricity mix by 2050 and to restrict direct government finance of unabated coal power internationally. Since independence, Singapore’s reliance on coal has been marginal and makes up less than 2% of its power generation capacity today.

“The burning of coal is putting billions of people at immediate risk. It is why Singapore has decided to join the Powering Past Coal Alliance, one of the first countries in Asia to do so. Singapore is fully committed to accelerating the transition to a low-carbon future. We will transform our industry, economy, and society to be more energy and carbonefficient, and to adopt more low-carbon energy in support of the goals of the Paris Agreement,” said Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu.

In addition to its membership in the PPCA, Singapore has signed the Global Coal to Clean Power transition statement. The country committed to international efforts and collaboration to shift away from unabated coal power generation in the 2040s, cease issuances of new permits, and end direct government support for new unabated coal-fired power generation projects worldwide.

The burning of coal is putting billions of people at immediate risk

WILL RENEWABLES BECOME INDIA’S MAIN POWER SOURCE?

INDIA

India aims to increase renewables total power capacity to 40% by 2030

India’s renewable installed capacities have grown to 148 gigawatts (GW) by the end of September 2021, comprising 38% of India’s total installed power capacity.

However, CreditSights reported that the share of renewable power generation to India’s total electricity generation of 21% falls below its share in the country’s total installed capacity.

The difference between its generation ad capacity has sparked questions on whether renewables can become India’s dominant power source.

Analysts said they are confident that the “share of green power in meeting India’s power needs will only increase going forward,” but not as swift as envisioned by the country.

India aims to increase the shares of renewables in its total power capacity to 40% by 2030.

The country’s renewable power assets have grown from 18GW in June 2010 to 148GW by end-September 2021, according to the Ministry of Power.

CreditSights also underscored that renewable facilities generate less power per gigawatt than thermal assets.

This is mainly because renewable power has a lower average capacity utilisation factor (CUF) “owing to intermittency issues.”

Renewable power assets

Analysts said during the monsoon season in India, which occurs during the second quarter of every fiscal year, solar assets see a 20% drop in CUF, whilst wind assets’ CUF jumps as high as 35%.

During the dry season, however, wind assets can fall to as low as 16%.

“Consequently, output from renewable sources can be extremely seasonal, intermittent, volatile, and generally low,” the analysts said.

For the LTM period ended August 2021, renewables’ CUF was at 23%, which paled markedly compared to the CUF of nonrenewable energy plants at 55%.

“Considering renewable facilities generate lesser power per gigawatt than thermal assets, we can conclude that, despite the rapid growth in the industry, it still has a long way to go in becoming the dominant source of power in the country,” CreditSights said.

The analysts however said that renewable power in India is “here to stay” and will remain “well-supported.”