The sun doesn’t always shine through the clouds in tropical Asia or in the colder regions of North Asia, but it is clearly the sun that is going to be driving the most encouraging trends for the clean energy revolution in Asia. Coming clean is climate friendly and cost effective, and many parts of Asia are already taking bold steps down this path, says Ken Hickson in an article for the Asian Development Bank’s RTF Mirror. Solar energy, mostly through photovoltaic cells, will be the predominant renewable energy source in the future in Asia, as in much of the rest of the world, as it weans itself off fossil fuel. Read More

RTF Mirror/ADB Volume 1 | Issue 2 | January – March 2012

Solar is the renewable energy of choice in Asia

Coming clean is climate friendly and cost effective, and many parts of Asia are already taking  bold steps down this path says Ken Hickson

The sun doesn’t always shine through the clouds in tropical Asia or in the colder regions of North Asia, but it is clearly the sun that is going to be driving the most encouraging trends for the clean energy revolution in Asia.

Solar energy, mostly through photovoltaic cells, will be the predominant renewable energy source in the future in Asia, as in much of the rest of the world as it weans itself off fossil fuel.

While this cannot possibly be a comprehensive survey of all clean energy development in Asia, it does provide a quick overview to show that Asia is moving ahead with a high degree of determination to ‘come clean’ in energy production, distribution and use. It also shows that the private sector is not backward in coming forward.

India

In India, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) announced in December 2012 that it is aiming to add 6,300MW of PV and 2,700MW of concentrated solar power to the energy mix in India between April 2013 and March 2017. According to the latest numbers from Bridge to India, at the end of 2012 there were already 1,096.5MW of solar PV installed throughout India, only 5.5MW concentrated solar power – obviously a lot of room to move, but moving in the right direction.

China

China has taken a leadership role in the production of PV panels as well as wind turbines, but what about the mix in terms of its own energy use?

According to a survey by Goldman Sachs last year, China still has a long way to go to become clean, particularly as it surpassed the United States in 2010 to become the top world energy consumer; its energy use has increased by more than 150% during the past ten years.

China’s Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) included a target to increase the proportion of non-fossil fuels in energy consumption to 11.4% by 2015 and to 15% by 2020, from 8.3% in 2010. These goals are extremely ambitious, with some estimates indicating China would need to add 320-480GW of non-fossil fuel energy over the next decade to meet the 2020 target.

In terms of solar energy, China’s capacity is currently a small portion of the generation portfolio but the government has announced targets for installed capacity to grow nearly six-fold to reach 20GW by 2015. Similar to wind technology, grid connectivity will also be a key issue for solar expansion.

Malaysia

With a goal to achieve a 40% cut in carbon emissions by 2020, the Malaysian government plans to increase the share of renewable energy in the total energy mix to 5.5% by 2015.

It has created support mechanisms and launched a feed-in-tariff (FiT) scheme, which pays a premium rate for generating electricity through renewable sources.

Renewable energy would make investments worth RM70 billion (US$23 billion) and support 50,000 jobs by 2020.

The release of a 20MW quota for small-scale photovoltaic installations in Malaysia has been postponed.

The FiT quota is for installations smaller than 500kW and was scheduled to be released on December 17th. In September 2012, the Sustainable Energy Development Authority Malaysia (SEDA Malaysia) announced details on a ‘2,000 solar home rooftop’ programme.

Thailand

The Natural Energy Development Co. Ltd. (NED), owner of the largest thin-film solar power plant in the world, is interested in sharing its expertise in solar energy with the Philippines. The Thailand-based solar firm, which operates a 224 hectare solar power plant, believes its solar technology will be viable in a country like the Philippines.

Chaiwut Saengpredekorn, plant manager of the Lopburi solar power plant, said that solar technology is sustainable. NED’s 73MW solar power plant in Thailand took 18 months to build. NED installed more than 545,000 thin-film PV panels for its solar power plant, the biggest installed in Asia.

The company is now expanding by another 11MW that would bring its solar plant to a total of 240 hectares by the first quarter of next year. According to NED, the new frameless glass-on-glass thin-film solar cells are optimal for use in a high-temperature climate as compared to crystalline solar cells.

Philippines

The Philippines possesses enough renewable resources to satisfy current and future energy demand, according to the Clean Energy Solutions Center. It is one of the leading countries in Southeast Asia in the development of renewable energy resources; renewables, including hydro, accounted for around one third of the country’s 16.8GW of generation capacity in 2009.

However, developed renewable energy sources are dwarfed by the size of the Philippines’ untapped potential. Across a country made up of more than 700 islands, there is an estimated 76GW of wind capacity, 10GW of hydropower and good solar potential.

In January 2009 the Philippines enacted what was then the most comprehensive renewable energy policy package in Asia – the Renewable Energy Act. The act calls for a renewable portfolio standard, which would require power suppliers to include a percentage of energy from renewable sources.

A feed-in tariff provision would provide renewable energy generators with a guaranteed market and a guaranteed price for their power, in addition to tax credits for developers and value added tax and duty-free importation of renewable technologies.

Singapore

Described as “renewable energy challenged”, Singapore does not take its imported fossil fuel dependent state lying down. It is driving energy efficiency programmes like no one else, and has set up leading-edge centres to research alternative fuels and test clean energy projects.

The Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) brings together leading solar researchers from around the world to look into improvements in solar technology and its applications. It even considers how solar can “partner” with energy efficiency to bring about improvements in the energy performance of buildings in the tropics, where air conditioning is the greatest energy guzzler.

Electric vehicles are on trial and Singapore is seen by many as the ideal urban environment to reduce the use of “dirty fuels” to get people around the island state, already starting to see the strains of private vehicle use on its air quality and traffic congestion.

But energy efficiency is the way Singapore has chosen to go, along with predominant use of natural gas as the cleaner option. It was also the “fuel” the International Energy Agency (IEA) decided to focus on in its 2012 World Energy Outlook (WEO) report. Not coal, or gas, or renewables, but energy efficiency – the fuel we often forget about, but where, in the opinion of IEA Chief Economist and WEO lead author Dr Fatih Birol, “the most can be achieved in the shortest time”.

Clean Energy Fund

Also announced mid 2012 was the setting up of the Armstrong South East Asia Clean Energy Fund, the first of its kind in the region, which has secured US$65 million in its first funding round. Overall, it aims to raise $150 million for small-scale power generation, including solar, in Southeast Asia. It is believed the region will become a “highly attractive” small-scale project market.

Andrew Affleck, managing partner of Armstrong Asset Management, says: “To date the team has originated a strong pipeline of potential deals and detailed negotiations are underway. We are hopeful of completing one to two key deals soon. Small-scale solar and mini-hydro are two priority sub-sectors the team is currently focused on.”

Clinton Climate Initiative

Promoting electric vehicles is essential to advancing carbon- neutral transportation technologies. C40-Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) Cities has brought together 15 of the world’s largest cities, including Hong Kong, New Delhi and Seoul, in collaboration with four leading electric vehicle manufacturers, to make major cities more electric vehicle friendly. They form the ‘C40 Electric Vehicle Network’ and collectively will address four areas of municipal action that are critical to the successful introduction of electric vehicles.

Ken Hickson is Chairman and CEO of the Singapore based consultancy, Sustain Ability Showcase Asia (SASA) and author of the book The ABC of Carbon. He produces a fortnightly newsletter abc carbon express which is available by free subscription and can be viewed at   www.abccarbon.com