IEEFA Asia Newsletter

In just a few short days, we will gather in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for the IEEFA Energy Finance Conference 2024.

The conference will focus on levers for accelerating the energy transition in Asia. We look forward to meeting many of you in person and engaging in robust discussions. You can follow conference updates on our LinkedIn and X accounts.

In the past month, our team has examined important aspects of Asia's energy transition:

• Using liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fired electricity for semiconductor clusters and Artificial Intelligence (AI) data centers could expose South Korea to significant industry and financial risks amid decarbonization trends and climate disclosure regulations. Our report explores how a rapid renewable energy transition can safeguard the country’s economic competitiveness by addressing these risks and opportunities for the AI and semiconductor sectors.
• Recent claims that phasing out coal would compromise Southeast Asia’s energy security are misconceived. Our analysis finds that energy systems reliant on coal are not inherently secure as commodity market fluctuations challenge affordability during global energy disruptions, reducing energy security.

• Pakistan’s current Distributed Generation and Net Metering Regulations offer incentives that have resulted in ideal payback periods, leading to a surge in rooftop solarization. Our report investigates proposed changes to current energy policies, including reducing buyback rates, limiting system sizes, and transitioning from net metering to net billing.

• The development of sustainable bond markets in Asia is inconsistent and lags behind Europe. The role of the public sector is critical in advancing sustainable bond markets. Our briefing note explores how sovereign and government-related issuances foster a more robust market environment, particularly when supported by strong regulatory frameworks and well-designed taxonomies.

We look forward to meeting many of you at the conference and will be back soon with next month’s highlights.

Paige Nguyen