Coal Consumption In Indonesia And The Philippines Lampau Poland And China

JAKARTA - The think tank inEMBER revealed that in 2023, Indonesia and the Philippines set a record high in coal use for power plants, surpassing Poland and China.

The high consumption of coal is due to 62 percent of electricity in the two Southeast Asian countries coming from coal.

In the latest data, in 2023, Indonesia outperformed Poland in terms of the proportion of coal-fired electricity, reaching 61.8 percent. Indonesia has outperformed China in the proportion of coal use since 2022.

The Philippines also saw an increase from 59.1 percent in 2022 to 61.9 percent in 2023, for the first time outperforming China and Poland.

EMBER said, with coal as the main source of electricity in Indonesia and the Philippines, renewable energy was unable to keep up with the increase in electricity demand.

In 2023, solar and wind power will only produce 0.3 percent and 3.2 percent of total electricity production in Indonesia and the Philippines, far below the ASEAN average of 4.4 percent and regional leaders of Vietnam by 13 percent.

Even in China and Poland, which have historically relied on coal energy sources, the rapid growth of solar and wind power has gradually reduced the proportion of coal.

Then in China, electricity demand rose by 6.9 percent, with nearly half of the increase met by solar and wind power. Meanwhile, Poland experienced a decline in electricity demand by 5 percent, but solar and wind power soared by 26 percent, leading to a sharp decline in coal use.

Although coal-fired power generation increases and renewable energy growth is slow, Indonesia and the Philippines still have a great opportunity to take advantage of the huge potential for solar and wind power.

The current plan in the Philippines and the recommendation document for Indonesia's Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) in its Comprehensive Investment and Policy Plan (CIPP) sees renewable energy will contribute 35 percent of electricity in the Philippines and 44 percent in Indonesia by 2030.

Globally, the IEA in the net-zero scenario targets to set a target of 60 percent renewable electricity by 2030. Because solar and wind power are fast applied and cheap sources of electricity.

"Indonesia and the Philippines should accelerate the development of this energy to meet the increase in electricity demand, so that it is closer to their net zero target," said Electricity Analyst Global Ember, Kostantsa Rangelova, Tuesday, July 2.