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Coal dominant as Southeast Asia power demand outstrips clean energy growth

Renewables like solar, wind and hydropower met only 40 per cent of new electricity demand in Southeast Asia over the past six years. Rapid policy intervention is needed to steer the region towards a net-zero pathway, says a new report.

Southeast Asia is outpacing the world in its growing electricity demand but lagging in clean energy adoption, allowing cheap but pollutive coal to dominate the energy mix, putting net-zero emissions targets out of reach, according to a report published Thursday (7 July).

The need for electricity rose 22 per cent in the region from 2015 to 2021 — five percentage points higher than the world average — but this demand was met by only a 39 per cent increase in low-carbon power, said the study by London based non-profit Ember.

Solar and wind facilities contributed to only 4 per cent of power generated in Southeast Asia last year. More clean electricity came from hydropower, which is renewable but frequently harmful to local ecology and communities.