Asia and the Pacific Renewable Energy Status Report 2019

This inaugural Asia and the Pacific Renewable Energy Status Report provides a comprehensive overview of renewable energy developments in selected countries of the region. Asia and the Pacific plays a large role in the world, covering a vast territory and contributing a majority of world population and population growth. The region's economic transformation, accompanied by an energy transition, is fundamental to the success of global efforts to achieve sustainable development goals and decarbonization objectives. This report covers 18 selected countries representing five key sub-regions, as follows: Northeast Asia (China, Japan, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea); Central Asia (Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan); South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka); Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Viet Nam) and The Pacific (Fiji, Tonga). The countries are drawn from where networks and data sources were the strongest. Although the Asia Pacific region is a renewable energy leader worldwide, the deployment of renewables continues to lag behind that of traditional energy sources in supplying the region's rapidly increasing energy needs. Continuing growth in energy demand in the power, heating and cooling, and transport sectors opens a multi-faceted renewable energy opportunity in the region. Some of the largest countries in size and renewable energy potential still have relatively low shares of renewables in their total final energy consumption (TFEC). For example, India had a less than 40% renewable energy share in its TFEC in 2016, while China's share was below 20% that same year. Overall, the region's renewable energy share is still focused heavily on hydropower (especially large-scale hydropower) and bioenergy (biomass, biogas and liquid biofuels for heating, cooking and electricity). Modern renewable energy, such as solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind, has considerable room to grow. The region is innovating, and new technologies are being implemented in the market. Floating solar PV gained traction in 2018 and is attracting interest in a few countries, particularly those with limited available land. Renewable energy for heating and cooling is still mostly underdeveloped in the region, except in China. Transport offers another possible avenue for renewable energy development. Electrification has started in the region's energy mix for transport, and although electro-mobility is not directly linked to renewables, it offers a step away from traditional fuels and an opportunity to develop renewable energy for transport uses. Renewable energy for power generation is growing the most aggressively, on the back of technology improvements in solar PV and wind power technologies. China, India, Japan and Bangladesh are at the forefront of renewable energy developments in the region's power sector. Distributed energy offers another opportunity for renewable energy in the region providing both access to electricity as well as access to clean cooking. Distributed renewable energy is pushing the boundaries for the introduction of innovative solutions such as pay-as-you-go, combining expertise from mobile providers and energy companies. Governments in the region are catching up with the latest market developments, and some are pro-actively looking to build an investment pipeline in renewable energy. Feed-in tariffs (FITs), the most common support mechanisms, are progressively giving way to auctions that will nurture renewable energy opportunities. Net metering is present, but it still needs to develop and to offer stable conditions and transparency that may lead to increases in investment flows compared to today. Cities and local authorities are building their own mandates and are going green with renewable energy, offering an immediate opportunity for renewables in power, heating and cooling, and transport.