Indonesia and the Philippines are trying to reduce their dependence on coal

Indonesia and the Philippines lead Southeast Asia in coal dependence, with their reliance continuing to grow rapidly in 2023.

Data recently released by energy consultancy Ember shows that last year, the Philippines surpassed Poland, China and Indonesia in percentage of coal in its energy mix to become the most coal-dependent country in the region.

The percentage of electricity generated from coal in the Philippines in 2023 is higher than that of Poland, China and Indonesia. The country saw a significant increase in its annual coal production rate of 2.9%, from 59.1% in 2022 to 61.9% in 2023.

Meanwhile, in Indonesia this percentage increased to a new record of 61.8%, surpassing Poland in 2023 after already surpassing China in 2022.

According to Ember, these statistics highlight the challenges the two Southeast Asian countries face in meeting their green energy goals. Coal’s share of electricity generation in the Philippines increased for the 15th consecutive year in 2023, defying its target to reduce reliance on the fuel to less than half of its total electricity generation by 2030.

Ember reported that both Indonesia and the Philippines are lagging behind other ASEAN countries in developing wind and solar energy. They struggled to develop renewable capacity because of the associated costs.