Asia’s Renewable Energy Recovery After the Pandemic
Southeast Asia was on the verge of becoming an economic powerhouse prior to the disastrous effects of COVID-19. Manufacturing industries, and services have grown in recent decades throughout the region. Additionally, energy consumption increased by an average of 6% each year, one of the highest growth rates in the world.
Nonetheless, despite the worldwide reduction in the cost of renewable energy, Southeast Asian nations have primarily embraced fossil fuels to fulfill their rising energy demands.
Nearly 60% of Indonesia’s power is generated by its 29 gigawatt (GW) coal fleet. An additional 24.7 GW is planned, making the country’s coal pipeline the world’s sixth biggest. The most recent Philippine Energy Plan recommended increasing coal’s contribution in the energy mix from 52.1 percent in 2018 to 55.3 percent by 2040 in order to promote industrialization.
While Vietnam’s clean energy industry has grown – solar now accounts for more than 8% of the country’s energy mix – continuous vigilance is required to guarantee that the country’s 80 GW of additional power capacity by 2030 is generated responsibly.
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 health crisis has never-before-seen effects on the energy industry. Due to the quarantine and lockdown orders, the pandemic impacted the electricity industry, resulting in a decline in demand and a shift of commercial and industrial use to residential.
The pandemic’s human and economic costs have served as a wake-up call that we must abandon business as usual in order to better protect people from harmful pollutants and lay the groundwork for a new economic basis for sustainable growth. Despite their seeming low costs, we should accelerate our transition away from oil and other fossil fuels and shift to decarbonization, decentralization, and digitalization. These technologies will significantly modernize and enhance our energy economy’s efficiency and efficacy.
While Indonesia, the Philippines, and the rest of Southeast Asia recover from the consequences of COVID-19, policies for sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth are required. By reinvesting in clean energy now, we can ensure a successful and progressive future for everybody.
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