Southeast Asia’s electricity demand up 5.5% YoY in 2022: report

Coal dominated the region’s power generation.

Southeast Asia posted a 5.5% year-on-year growth in electricity demand as the region’s economies recover amidst the reopening of borders for international tourism.

In a report, the International Energy Agency said coal accounted for 43% of the region's power generation, followed by gas at 29%, and renewables at 27%.

Generation from coal is expected to increase by 4% on average up to 2025 led by capacity additions in Indonesia and Vietnam and as some coal-fired power plants had their lifetime extended due to high energy global prices and supply shortages, such as in Thailand.

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The IEA added that the demand in the region will expand by 4% to 6% annually until 2025, with fossil fuel catering to most of the additional demand, whilst renewables are expected to meet about a third of the growth.

“The share of renewables in the generation mix will rise slightly to below 28% in 2025. This leads to a decrease in the emission intensity of the region’s generation mix by over 1% in 2025 compared to 2022, but at 585 g CO2/kWh it is set to remain among the highest globally,” it said.

It added that the region aims to add 50GW of solar and wind capacity by 2030 and more than 250GW by 2050 as several countries set their eyes on net-zero goals.