While most Asian countries havemade some commitment to devel-op the use of renewable energy, the

actual contribution of renewables to each indi-vidual country's total energy needs varies.Energy hungry Japan, for example, has set a tar-get for renewable energy to account for 3% oftotal energy use by 2010, while South Korea'starget is for renewables to provide 5% of total

energy supplies by 2010. Elsewhere in Asia,China is planning for renewable energy sourcesto account for 5% of electric power generationby 2005, while in Southeast Asia commitmentsamong various countries range from Thailand'sgrowing aims for renewable energy to drive sig-nifcant power generation by 2020 to Malaysia'splan for renewables to generate 5% of electrici-ty supplies in 2005.

Energy SourcesHydroToday hydroelectric power is the most welldeveloped renewable energy source in Asia.Although most old dams are small in their gen-erating capacity, the trend during the past 50years has been to build bigger hydroelectricschemes to meet the huge increase in electricitydemand from industry and growing popula-tions. China, the Philippines, Indonesia andVietnam are among countries that already havedrawn up ambitious hydropower developmentprogrammes. While power companies and gov-ernments often prefer to build medium andlarge hydroelectric schemes, the rise in impor-tance of renewable energy has given greaterfocus to the development of mini and microhydropower schemes. These often are built toserve remote rural communities and typicallyare part of wider rural electrification pro-grammes designed to supply electricity to vil-lages for the first time.

GeothermalGeothermal energy also has been exploitedmore than other renewable energy sources inAsia though most geothermal energy resourcesare concentrated in the Pacific Rim region.The Philippines and Indonesia are Asia's lead-ing geothermal producers. Both countries willexpand geothermal energy development infuture while other countries including Japanand China also plan to develop theirresources.

WindWind power is one renewable energy sourcethat has created a lot of interest in Asia andoffers a large development potential. Comparedto hydropower and geothermal energy develop-ment, the infrastructure required to harnesswind power is far more simple and less costly toinstall. While many countries are keen to buildlarge wind farms that can supply electricity tothe local power grid, wind power with back updiesel generating power also can be used to sup-ply isolated rural communities, making it amore economical rural electrification optionthan building power transmission lines inremote, sparsely inhabited regions. Anotherattraction of wind power is that wind turbine

32 reFOCUS January/February 2004 1471 0846/04 ©2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developing Countries

Since the mid-1990s many countries in Asia have reviewed theirenergy development programmes and have given greateremphasis to the use of renewable energy. For some countriesdeveloping renewable energy is simply an extension of theirexisting energy policy. For others, however, particularly Asia'smore economically developed countries that lack indigenousenergy reserves, the decision to promote renewable energy is acostly choice and forms part of their Kyoto protocol pledges. Inthe first part of a two-part feature, David Hayes Refocus corre-spondent takes a look at renewable energy development andpotential in Asian countries starting with China, India, SouthKorea and Japan.

ASIANRENEWABLESAsia targets RE expansion - regional overview

Small-scale hydropower stations like this are proving popular in Asia. Photo: Duane Hippe.

www.re-focus.net January/February 2004 reFOCUS 33

Developing Countries

equipment can be made locally, allowing coun-tries to build their own equipment and developlocal technical expertise. The use of local equip-ment is popular with politicians as jobs are cre-ated. In addition installing wind turbines doesnot become a drain on the country's foreignexchange reserves unlike large scale hydroelectricand thermal power development where mostcountries are obliged to import some foreigntechnology.

SolarSolar power is another renewable energy sourcethat is attracting a lot of interest, again becausesolar energy development allows countries tobuild solar panels and associated equipmentlocally. At present most solar development is tar-geted at remote communities living away frompower grid supplies.

OthersOther renewable energy sources also are beingdeveloped in Asia including biomass, fuel cells,refuse, wave power and other energy resources.Electricity generation using biomass is attract-ing attention in countries where the productionof rice padi along with plantation crops such aspalm oil and sugar creates a large amount ofbiomass that has to be disposed of. Most bio-mass is used onsite as transport costs to movebiomass any distance to a power plant canquickly render such schemes uneconomic.Meanwhile, development of renewable energyrelies on government support in most countriesas the cost of using somerenewable resources canbe more expensive thanusing conventional ener-gy sources such as coal,hydroelectricity andnuclear power. In mostcountries, the govern-ment either pays a sub-sidy direct to the powerproducer for using a particular renewable ener-gy source or encourages the power grid opera-tor to pay a higher than usual price to purchaseelectricity generated by renewable energy whichstill accounts for only a small promotion oftotal electricity supplies. Japan, South Koreaand Taiwan, for example, all rely on nuclearpower and coal-fired electricity generation.While the three countries are committed tousing renewable energy, developing renewableenergy will require government subsidies asotherwise investors will be reluctant to invest inrenewable energy for fear of suffering a finan-cial loss.

ChinaAt present China is one of the most advancedAsian countries in developing renewable ener-gy. According to the government's Tenth FiveYear Plan (2001 to 2005) China will increase

the use of renewable energy resources toaccount for 5% of total electricity generationby the end of the Tenth Plan period. In fact,this target almost already has been met.However, maintaining the programme oncourse to meet future targets will present amajor challenge. The World Bank has estimat-ed that China will need to build renewableenergy-fueled power stations totaling about18,000MW installed capacity over the next 10years to maintain the targeted 5% share ofrenewable energy in the nation's power genera-tion fuel mix. China's renewable energyresources comprise small-scale hydropower,wind power, biomass, solar and geothermalenergy. Today these are used mostly in ruralareas. Compared with the available potential,the use of renewable energy is relatively small.Until now only about 19,000MW of China'stotal estimated 350,000MW renewable energypotential has been harnessed. Of the19,000MW, about 16,000MW or most of it,has been developed as small hydropowerschemes.

According to official statistics about 43,000small, mini and micro hydropower projectshave been built in China, most of which arebelow 300kW installed capacity in size. Thehydropower plants generate about 23 millionkWh of electricity a year. This is used by about300 million people who live in mountainousareas near to where the hydropower schemes arelocated. In spite of the large number of small,mini and micro hydropower schemes that have

been built, those inoperation utilize onlyabout 30% of China'ssmall scale hydropowerdevelopment potential.Of this 80% of thedevelopment potentialexists in western China,one of the nation's mostundeveloped regions. As

part of plans to develop China's small-scalehydropower potential to reduce poverty inremote and mountainous regions of westernChina, the Ministry of Water Resources isworking with the Manila-based AsianDevelopment Bank to prepare a project for theBank to loan finance to promote small-scalehydroelectricity development. The eventualproject is expected to include the rehabilitationof existing power plants, development of newplants, watershed protection, along with train-ing and technical support for institutions andorganizations involved in promoting and sup-porting small-scale hydropower development inwestern China.

Apart from small hydropower projects, windpower offers considerable potential in China.At the end of 2000 China's installed windpower capacity stood at a mere 375MW, com-pared with the country's huge estimated160,000MW wind energy potential. China

plans to install 1,192MW of wind powerequipment in the Tenth Five Year Plan, a targetsome observers consider too ambitious due tothe small size of wind power units and the largenumber that will need to be installed to achievethe target. Xinjiang is China's leading windpower province so far followed by Guangdongand Inner Mongolia. According to the govern-ment's plan about three to five large windfarms, including offshore wind farms, will bebuilt by 2005, each designed with about100MW installed capacity. Other smaller windfarms will be built across the country in morethan 10 provinces and autonomous regionsincluding Guangdong, Hebei, Heilongjiang,Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu, Jilin, Liaoning,Shanghai and Xinjiang.

The government's plan is to make mediumand large scale wind farms ranging from15MW to about 100MW in size competitivewith the long run marginal cost of electricitygeneration. The Asian Development Bank(ADB) is supporting China's wind power pro-gramme with a US$58 million loan packagethat is financing construction of three pilotwind farms with a total combined 78MW gen-erating capacity that are intended to act asmodels for the development of other wind farmprojects in future.

IndiaIndia also has used ADB funds to developrenewable energy resources. At present theIndian Renewable Energy Development AgencyLtd is preparing to apply to the ADB for aUS$200 million loan to use as revolving credit toon-lend to private companies to finance numer-ous small renewable energy projects. Most of theloans will be used to finance power generationschemes that will include biomass power genera-tion, cogeneration at sugar refineries, mini andmicro hydropower schemes, wind power, photo-voltaic and solar thermal power projects. Indiaalready has taken a lead in wind power develop-ment in Asia. Since launching its wind powerprogramme in 1984 India has made considerableprogress in harnessing one of the country'slargest natural sustainable electricity generationsources.

Aimed at providing households and industrywith low cost electricity supplies, India's windenergy programme continues to expand, sup-ported by rising investment in wind powerfarms and an increase in the number of facto-ries producing wind power equipment. Thewind power programme is supported by whatis claimed to be the world's largest windresource assessment scheme. This has been car-ried out at the Centre for Wind EnergyTechnology in Tamil Nadu, along with agen-cies in each of the country's states and otheragencies including the Indian Institute ofTropical Meteorology. Research since the mid-1980s suggests that India has a wind energygeneration potential of at least 20,000MW at

Wind power is onerenewable energy

source that has created a lot of interest in Asia

some 192 potential sites. However, some offi-cials believe the country's actual wind powerpotential could be twice this figure. Researchis underway to identify regions and sites offer-ing additional wind power potential.

The Indian government has plans to developa further 6,000MW of wind power by 2010, anambitious target compared with other countriesin Asia. Most wind power potential is located in14 states in western and southern India. Thestates with biggest wind power potential areGujurat, Maharastra and Tamil Nadu. Otherstates with high potential include AndhraPradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and MadhyaPradesh. According to government statisticsIndia has the fifth largestinstalled wind energycapacity in the world.Wind farms capable ofgenerating more than1,175MW were in serviceat the start of 2001. About95% of the existing windpower capacity is operatedby privately funded com-panies. The remaining capacity is operated bystate power utilities and other official organisa-tions. Currently 80% of wind energy is con-sumed as captive power by the producer whilethe remainder is sold as surplus power to thestate grid. Some wind power farms owned byindustrial enterprises generate for their own useonly.

The southern state of Tamil Nadu is home tothe most wind energy schemes with wind farmstotalling more than 770MW installed at variouslocations across the state. Gujarat has the sec-ond highest number of wind energy projectswith wind power plants totalling over 170MWinstalled capacity being scattered throughoutthe state. Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra areamong other leading wind energy producingstates. The growth in the construction of windfarms has resulted in a growth in the number ofcompanies producing wind power equipment inIndia. A number of foreign companies have setup factories in India, mostly in partnership withlocal firms.

About 15 companies are making wind tur-bine equipment of which many are joint ven-ture companies. In addition, a number ofIndian companies are manufacturing wind tur-bine equipment under licence of foreign man-ufacturers. About 80% of parts used are local-ly made. Blade manufacturing facilities havebeen established in India where wind powergenerators up to 750kW installed capacity nowcan be produced. Wind turbine equipmentwith an installed generating capacity exceeding500MW can now be produced each year inIndia.

South KoreaSouth Korea has introduced an alternativeenergy programme in 2001 aimed at boosting

R&D into renewable energy resources. TheSouth Korean government has set a long termtarget of increasing the share of renewableenergy in the total energy supply from 1.05%in 1999 to 5% in 2010. Renewable resourcesare expected to meet 2% of total energydemand in 2003. South Korea's renewableenergy plan involves concentrating govern-ment financial support on developing energytechnologies offering comparative advantages.Technologies selected for development includewind power, photovoltaic energy, fuel cells,biomass and power generation from waste. Toachieve the government's renewable energytarget, electricity wholesalers will be required

to supply electricitygenerated by renew-able resources toaccount for at leastone per cent of allelectricity traded by2006.

A government-backed price supportsystem is expected to

encourage the use of renewable energy. Prior tobeing broken up into six regional power com-panies in 2001, Korea Electric PowerCorporation announced plans to purchaseelectricity generated by renewable resources atthe same price as electricity bought for resi-dential consumers through Korea PowerExchange Market, the electricity pool mecha-nism. According to energy officials, windpower, which is one of South Korea's cheapestrenewable energies, is particularly attractive ifbought at the avoided cost of heavy oil gener-ating facilities. Government support for R&Dinto renewable technologies already includesdirect subsidies to defray part of the capitalcosts for selected projects as price supportalone is not sufficient to promote developmentof renewable energy. For wind power a directsubsidy of up to 25% is available, while forphotovoltaic energy up to 75% of the projectcost can be funded through direct subsidy. Atthe start of South Korea's renewables develop-ment programme, official figures showed thatmunicipal and industrial waste combinedaccounted for about 93% of total new andrenewable energy sources. However, furtherdevelopment of waste incinerators is beingblocked by local communities in many parts ofSouth Korea due to possible air pollution fromincinerating waste.

According to government forecasts waste toenergy and small hydropower schemes areexpected to make a smaller contribution torenewable energy power generation over thelonger term while wind power, photovoltaicsand fuel cells will increase their share. Publicopposition to waste incineration schemes isone factor while development of smallhydropower schemes is limited by the numberof suitable sites for their construction. At

present most wind turbines and photovoltaicsystems have been installed on remote islandswhere their technology is competitive com-pared with other power plants such as dieselgenerators.

JapanThe Japanese government has set a target forrenewable energy, though not includinghydroelectric or geothermal power, to generate3% of electricity supplies by 2010 comparedwith 1.2% at present. By 2010 Japan's windpower generation capacity is due to reach3,000MW while photovoltaic generation willtotal 4,820MW. Waste power generation is tar-geted to reach 4,170MW and biomass powergeneration 330MW. Among other renewableenergies, solar thermal power is targeted toreach 4.39 million kilolitres of petroleumequivalent annually, while unutilized energyincluding cryogenic energy from snow and iceis expected to reach 580,000 kl, thermal use ofwaste will reach 140,000 kl, thermal use ofbiomass will reach 670,000 kl and Energyfrom waste (rubbish) will reach 4.94 million klof petroleum equivalent annually. Japan stillhas some way to go. In mid-2001 the nation'stotal installed wind energy, photovoltaic andfuel cell power capacity was just 20MW.Although new facilities using renewable energyare being built, some energy analysts considerthe government's renewables target as overambitious.

"We doubt whether 3% is possible by2010," commented a spokesman for theFederation of Electric Power Companies(FEPC), "Generally rural areas are doing morethan cities especially for wind power genera-tion. Tohoku, Hokkaido and Kyushu have alot of potential for wind power. The target forwind power development is 3,000MW but notmuch is installed. It is mainly green IPP plantoperators such as Tomen and Electric PowerDevelopment Corporation (EPDC) who areinstalling wind power to supply to the grid."Subsidies are essential to encourage Japan'sprivate power companies to develop renewableenergy. The FEPC spokesman explained thegovernment subsidises photovoltaic powergeneration so that the local power companypurchases power from photovoltaic generatorsat the same price that it sells electricity to itscustomers. Private companies and local gov-ernment agencies are the main organizationsdeveloping photovoltaic energy.

34 reFOCUS January/February 2004 www.re-focus.net

Developing Countries

By 2010 Japan'swind power

generation capacityis due to reach

3,000MW

In the next instalment of this two-part Asianreview we explore developments in the SouthEast Asian countries of Philippines,Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.