Daily Research Sheets

Recently, different countries globally are working hard to phase out from fossil-fuel energy to renewable energy. In the Asia Pacific, Australia, Japan and Vietnam are leading the transition to renewable energy sources. Also, coal and gas power plants have risen to achieve an energy mix in the area. These facts are according to statics collected by the HIS market. Almost a third of the power-related projects in the Asia Pacific are designed to provide solar, hydro, wind, and other renewables power in the sixteen vital regional areas.

The top country is Australia, with a capacity of up to 89%. This index shows the percentage of the power projects under construction to generate solar, biomass, or wind power. Japan is the second-ranked country, and South Korea is in the fourth position. These countries’ high rank is due to a massive pipeline of offshore wind projects. Vietnam is currently in the third position thanks to the emerging markets after promoting feed-in tariffs to act as an incentive. It attracts investments in the wind and solar power areas. Also, statics show that Vietnam’s incentives are working, and many people are looking at renewables in a new light.

The last ranks include Bangladesh, with only 6% of the ongoing power-related project is from non-hydro renewables. It is ahead of Myanmar with 4% and Thailand with 3%. The vice president of global power, HIS Markit, claims that the figures indicate that the income level is not the determinant in a country’s will to pursue renewable energy. Unlike in the past, renewables are not something only wealthy nations can afford as a luxury since the costs have reduced with time.

Currently, mainland China has the largest market for renewables in absolute terms, where 58% is accounted for onshore wind and 33% on solar projects, under the development stages. However, IHS ranked it at the eighth position since the country has overall large coal and gas-fuel power projects. Recent reports have set up ambitious goals regarding clean energy while others like China, Japan, and South Korea are settling for the net-zero emission target.

It is no secret that Fossil fuel power projects are still coming up in the Asia Pacific with 192 GW from coal plants and 65 GW from gas-fired power plants. India and China are the leading countries with many coal power projects accounting for 77%, while China, Thailand, and Bangladesh have the most number of gas-fired power projects in construction. Even though clean energy is rising in the Asia Pacific, there is still the construction of fossil fuel plants claiming it’s a way to deal with the high demand.