In South Asia, Bangladesh is increasing coal-fired power generation and coal-fired power imports in March, daily government data shows. In Southeast Asia, the Philippines is ramping up coal-fired power and slashing LNG-fired output, while EVN in Vietnam told Reuters last week it was negotiating coal supply. Coal still accounts for about 13% of the fuel used in power generation in Thailand, compared with 58% for natural gas. The rest is made up of electricity imports from Laos (14%), remewables (12%), and Hydropower (3%)South Korea plans to remove ceilings on coal-fired output and increase nuclear generation, while Japan’s top utility JERA told Reuters last week it will keep coal-fired power generation at high utilisation rates. And because renewables cannot yet fill the gap, many countries including Thailand have delayed the decommissioning of heavily polluting coal-fired power plants.
