Category: Knowledge Center Asia

Scaling Up Renewables in Maldives: Report

Scaling Up Renewables in Maldives: Report

September 6, 2024 | , ,

Maldives has significant renewable energy resources from solar and wind power. Multiple  studies indicate that the use of renewable energy to complement diesel power generation in Maldives would reduce electricity production costs. The Government of Maldives has recognised the prospects of using the country’s large renewable energy resources to lower the cost of electricity generation, increase energy security while reducing import-related financial risks, and reduce the country’s GHG emissions. The report concludes that scaling up the use of hybrid solutions should be seriously explored particularly by SIDS, other isolated locations such as remote communities, as well as industries and mines using diesel-generator-based power systems. 

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Future of Net-Metered Solar Power in Pakistan: IEEFA

Future of Net-Metered Solar Power in Pakistan: IEEFA

August 23, 2024 | , , ,

Pakistan’s current Distributed Generation and Net Metering Regulations offer incentives such as high buyback rates, fixed long-term generation licenses, and generous allowances for installed capacity. These have resulted in ideal payback periods, leading to a surge in net-metered rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity across the country. The current policy offers 2-4 year payback periods for 5-25 kilowatt (kW) net-metered solar PV systems. Power utilities are concerned that higher penetration of distributed solar could place the distribution infrastructure at risk of failure and increase capacity payments on non-net-metered consumers.

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China Postpones Coal Power: Brief

China Postpones Coal Power: Brief

August 23, 2024 | , ,

Following the accelerated permitting of over 100 gigawatts (GW) of new coal power annually in 2022 and 2023, China has abruptly curtailed approvals for new coal power plants, approving just twelve projects totaling 9 GW in H1 2024, an 83% decline compared to H1 2023. New and revived proposals in H1 2024 totaling 37.4 GW are also trending lower than in H1 2023 (60.2 GW) and H1 2022 (47.8 GW), indicating a possible tapering of new project development – although not at the same pace as the permit slowdown. Since 2023, China has added over 400 GW of new solar and wind power, driving down China’s coal power generation by 7% from June 2023 to June 2024.

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Critical Minerals for India’s Energy Transition: Paper

Critical Minerals for India’s Energy Transition: Paper

August 9, 2024 | , ,

This paper “Critical minerals for India’s clean energy transition” by World Resources Institute unpacks the meaning of the term “critical” in “critical minerals” by highlighting the vulnerabilities that affect the availability of these minerals in India. It maps the critical mineral scenario for India by examining the domestic vulnerabilities of India’s critical mineral supplies and unpacking the political economy of global mineral resource flows while contextualizing them for India’s energy transition.

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Renewable Energy Investment in Indonesia: Report

Renewable Energy Investment in Indonesia: Report

August 2, 2024 | , ,

Investment in renewable energy in Indonesia has stagnated for the past seven years. In 2023, it attracted a mere US$1.5 billion, lagging far behind its Southeast Asian neighbors. Indonesia needs to attract US$146 billion in near-term renewable energy investment to meet the country’s 2030 climate target. Current policies and onerous contractual requirements towards solar and wind power raise costs and discourage private investment.

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Emissions Trading Schemes in Asia-Pacific: Paper

Emissions Trading Schemes in Asia-Pacific: Paper

July 26, 2024 | , ,

This paper discusses the main opportunities and behavioural responses for reducing emissions, and commonly used mitigation instruments. It then considers key design issues for carbon pricing, with a focus on emissions trading schemes (ETS), describes measures to overcome the obstacles to carbon pricing, and discusses experiences with carbon pricing relevant for Asia-Pacific economies. Lastly, the paper covers complementary policy reforms, including reinforcing mitigation instruments, public investment, fuel tax reform, green industrial policies, and supporting reforms to the energy sector.

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Decarbonisation Trends in China’s Steel Sector: Report 

Decarbonisation Trends in China’s Steel Sector: Report 

July 19, 2024 | ,

There were no new permits for coal-based steelmaking projects in the first half of 2024 for the first time since China announced its ‘dual carbon goals’ in September 2020. China could cut 200 million tonnes of CO2 from the steel industry by 2025, which would be a 10% reduction compared to the highest emission levels up to now recorded in 2020 due to measures to cut steel output and increase scrap-based secondary steel from electric arc furnaces. China’s forecasted CO2 reductions of 200 million tonnes by 2025 are equivalent to the annual emissions from the EU’s steel sector.

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Advancing Net Zero Carbon Buildings in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

Advancing Net Zero Carbon Buildings in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

July 5, 2024 | , ,

Recently, both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have intensified their government policy focus on decarbonizing buildings. Uzbekistan’s government aims to improve the overall economy’s energy efficiency by 50% by 2030. In Kazakhstan, the national government targets a 15% reduction in the economy’s energy intensity by 2029 through prioritising energy efficiency in buildings.

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Corporate PPA Trends in Japan: Presentation

Corporate PPA Trends in Japan: Presentation

June 7, 2024 | , ,

Corporate PPAs are becoming popular in Japan to procure renewable electricity for business and industrial use. Under the current circumstances, where the price of fossil fuels remains high while the decarbonization of businesses is required, the benefits of corporate PPAs are being recognized from both economic and environmental perspectives. This information package puts together the latest trends in corporate PPAs in Japan as of April 2024.

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Hydrogen Strategy Lessons from US and Vietnam: Paper

Hydrogen Strategy Lessons from US and Vietnam: Paper

May 31, 2024 | , , , ,

Domestic policy and participation from foreign corporations, becomes increasingly critical for the hydrogen energy market in Vietnam. A hydrogen development roadmap is crucial to realise the future of hydrogen in Vietnam. Directing capital to hydrogen is key to enabling its growth in the United States. The United States has a clear vision for its domestic hydrogen economy, which could generate an estimated $140 billion per year in revenue by 2030.

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Managing Europe’s Greentech Dependence on China: Brief

Managing Europe’s Greentech Dependence on China: Brief

May 31, 2024 | , ,

“De-risking” is the guiding motif of the EU’s new approach to China, particularly in green technologies where Chinese companies are striving for full dominance. For Europe, these same industries are supposed to generate future prosperity, enable the green transition, and enhance security through greater energy independence. Instead of individually using incentives and trade tools ad hoc, at random, and in insufficient doses, member states should revolutionise their approach.

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Renewables progress in Southeast Asia: Report

Renewables progress in Southeast Asia: Report

May 17, 2024 | , ,

Southeast Asian countries are committed to decarbonising their economies and reaching  net zero in the coming decades. Between them, they aim to achieve net-zero emissions between 2050 and 2060. This transformation will, by necessity, include a strong deployment  of renewables. However, the boldness of these goals does not yet reflect in annual capacity  additions. The region, therefore, is on the cusp of an important step change and significant efforts can bring about this transformation.

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Financing Industrial Decarbonization in India: Paper

Financing Industrial Decarbonization in India: Paper

May 10, 2024 | , ,

This paper has highlighted the complexities and challenges of decarbonizing industries and also discussed a conceptual framework consisting of industry- and financial sector-level measures to enable financing for low-carbon industrial production. So far, there has been no investment in green steel production in India, and given the nascency of deep-decarbonization technologies, it is expected that pre-2030, emissions abatement in iron and steel will need to come through best-available technologies, which have a negative or near-zero marginal cost of abatement. 

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Regional grids key to Singapore’s energy future: EMBER

Regional grids key to Singapore’s energy future: EMBER

May 3, 2024 | , ,

Singapore aims to boost solar capacity to 2 GW and build up to 4 GW of interconnections to import clean electricity from neighbouring countries like Indonesia, VietNam and Cambodia, based on its 2030 Green Plan. With its substantial financial resources and positioning, Singapore has the financial muscle to fuel Asia’s energy transition, making it well-suited to lead and fund renewable projects in the region.

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Assessing Electricity Transition Pathway for Indian States: Report

Assessing Electricity Transition Pathway for Indian States: Report

April 26, 2024 | , ,

The 2024 Indian States’ Electricity Transition (SET) report by IEEFA and EMBER finds that Gujarat and Karnataka have effectively integrated renewable energy into their power sectors, shown adequate preparedness to further the electricity transition and have robust market enablers to facilitate future growth of clean electricity. The two states’ consistent performance over several different parameters across two iterations of the report highlights their strength when it comes to electricity transition.

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Low-Carbon Transition Finance in China: Report

Low-Carbon Transition Finance in China: Report

April 12, 2024 | , ,

In recent years, green finance in China has developed rapidly, boosting confidence in the transition of the entire market. However, green finance investments have mostly focused on “pure green” projects with high technological maturity, such as clean energy, green transportation, and green building. For industries with high carbon emissions, such as heavy industry, or projects at relatively early stages of technology development, financial support remains insufficient, making it difficult to meet the transition needs of these sectors.

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De-Risking EV Lending in India: Report

De-Risking EV Lending in India: Report

April 5, 2024 | , , ,

Despite the growing adoption of EVs in India, the availability of accessible and affordable financing remains one of the major challenges for the widespread transition to e-mobility. From the perspective of financiers, lending for ICE two- and three-wheelers is a difficult business because the borrower profile consists of many new-to-credit customers who are learning to adapt to formal credit cycles and typically have a history of significant delays in payments.

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Vietnam’s Green Hydrogen Potential: Paper

Vietnam’s Green Hydrogen Potential: Paper

March 17, 2024 | , , ,

Between 2016 and 2020, the manufacturing sector made up 23.8% of Vietnam’s GDP, with almost one-fifth—5% of the manufacturing sector—coming from the domestic iron and steel industries. Surprisingly, the steel sector alone is responsible for 7% of Vietnam’s total CO2 emissions. Decreasing emissions from iron and steel will require transitioning away from fossil fuels that have traditionally powered production and shifting toward low or zero-emission alternatives. 

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Scaling rooftop solar in Bangladesh: Presentation

Scaling rooftop solar in Bangladesh: Presentation

March 15, 2024 | , , ,

This slide deck “Scaling up rooftop solar deployment in Bangladesh” is prepared by IEEFA. It indicates that Bangladesh needs to design a market that incentivises and de-risks investments in rooftop solar to increase the pace of implementation and achieve scale. The study focuses on major challenges in the rooftop solar space, measures to address these issues, and policy-level interventions to change the status quo.

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China Misses Climate Targets: Report

China Misses Climate Targets: Report

March 1, 2024 | , ,

In 2021, the country committed to strictly limiting coal consumption growth; strictly controlling new coal power; reducing energy intensity; and reducing carbon intensity; it also set targets of increasing the share of non-fossil energy sources to 20%; and getting more than 50% of the increase in energy use from renewable sources. All of these targets are severely off track after 2023. Almost half (46%) of the growth in energy use came from coal and 70% from fossil fuels, against a target of getting more than 50% of the growth from renewable energy, target that is off track.

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