{"text":[[{"start":13.3,"text":"Asian economies are firing up coal plants and increasing production to reinforce energy supplies as fears of a protracted war in the Middle East raise the threat of long-term disruption to oil and gas flows."}],[{"start":28.19,"text":"The region leads the world in liquefied natural gas imports — chiefly by China, Japan, South Korea and India — and many Asian countries are heavily dependent on the Strait of Hormuz, the critical Gulf waterway through which shipping has slowed to a near standstill since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran. "}],[{"start":51.78,"text":"The war has sent oil and gas prices soaring and spurred a global energy shock that has sent many countries across the region to lean more heavily on coal as they struggle to secure energy supplies."}],[{"start":65.68,"text":"Coal producers such as China and India are racing to tap into stockpiles, while other countries from Bangladesh to South Korea are ramping up coal-fired power plants and slashing gas, shrugging off environmental concerns about the polluting fuel. Thailand has also restarted coal-fired plants and cut fuel subsidies."}],[{"start":88.51,"text":"Asian countries “are opening the tap on coal generation to help offset rising gas prices and supply risk”, said Anthony Knutson, global head of coal at Wood Mackenzie. "}],[{"start":101.55000000000001,"text":"The benchmark for thermal coal has risen more than 17 per cent since the war began — compared with a more than 60 per cent rise for Asian gas prices — making coal a relatively attractive option for electricity generation."}],[{"start":116.18,"text":"“No coal goes through the Strait of Hormuz,” said Jonathan Teubner, analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis."}],[{"start":null,"text":"
"}],[{"start":125.71000000000001,"text":"Coal is cheap and abundant, and is already a major contributor to power generation across Asia, particular in economies with energy-intensive manufacturing industries, despite efforts in recent years to draw down use of the fuel to meet commitments to reduce emissions to tackle climate change."}],[{"start":146.56,"text":"“Coal is already the dominant fuel in Asia’s power mix, making up well over 40-50 per cent across the region,” said Sam Chua, principal at Rystad Energy. “It has long been more cost-competitive than gas, but what is accelerating now is gas demand destruction.”"}],[{"start":166.49,"text":"He pointed to Bangladesh, which has curtailed gas supply to power plants and fertiliser producers in favour of coal-fired capacity."}],[{"start":176.42000000000002,"text":"South Korea, where President Lee Jae Myung has committed to retiring the majority of coal capacity by 2040, lifted an 80 per cent seasonal utilisation cap on coal-fired plants in order to temporarily ease reliance on LNG. "}],[{"start":192.8,"text":"The Korean Federation for Environmental Movements said the move was “using energy security as a pretext” to burn more coal."}],[{"start":201.68,"text":"Lee’s government on Tuesday also proposed Won10.1tn ($6.6bn) from a special budget to offset surging fuel costs, including compensating refiners for losses from a nationwide price cap."}],[{"start":217.67000000000002,"text":"Japan is the world’s biggest LNG importer after China, yet coal still accounts for an equal share of its energy mix at almost a third. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Friday that the government would lift restrictions on older coal power plants for a year to “ensure stable electricity supply”."}],[{"start":238.41000000000003,"text":"About 4mn tonnes, or 6 per cent, of Japan’s LNG supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, the economy ministry said, adding that making greater use of older, less efficient coal plants could make up for 500,000 tonnes"}],[{"start":255.15000000000003,"text":"Taishi Sugiyama at the Canon Institute for Global Studies, called on the government to go even further and scrap its mandatory emissions trading system, which is set to start next month, and which he called a “death sentence” for coal plants. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":270.85,"text":"In India, which relies on the Gulf for about 60 per cent of its LNG consumption, Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned that a “major challenge” was coming as the summer months approached. “With rising temperatures, electricity demand will increase,” he told parliament."}],[{"start":288.85,"text":"Modi’s government has pledged to reach net zero emissions by 2070 and has invested billions of dollars in renewables. But coal power is still deeply entrenched, supplying three quarters of the country’s electricity. The government forecasts that share will fall to 55 per cent by 2030, to 27 per cent by 2047 and would be phased down by 2070. "}],[{"start":314.14000000000004,"text":"Analysts believe the current energy crisis may have implications for the decommissioning of coal plants. This month, New Delhi directed some power plants fuelled by imported coal to run at capacity, including reviving a shuttered Tata Power facility. "}],[{"start":330.88000000000005,"text":"A spokesperson for Adani Power, which owns coal-based thermal power plants, said the company was “ensuring high plant availability and robust fuel readiness”. "}],[{"start":342.71000000000004,"text":"“Coal never really went away,” said Rohit Chandra, one of India’s leading coal experts at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":352.06000000000006,"text":"“In the short run, there will be more demand pressure on coal plants, pushing them to stockpile and burn more coal,” he added. “The power system will be pushed hard to avoid load-shedding and will have to compensate for gas shortages in households and industry.”"}],[{"start":369.59000000000003,"text":"China, the world’s largest gas buyer, relied on the Strait of Hormuz for about 25 per cent of its LNG supply. In the short term, higher seaborne coal prices could drive domestic coal production higher, analysts at Citigroup said. "}],[{"start":386.83000000000004,"text":"The crisis will cement the sense of “coal as a safe last resort . . . offering a measure of energy security that imported resources cannot”, said Li Shuo, director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute."}],[{"start":405.06000000000006,"text":"Past crises have tilted the Asian energy mix in coal’s favour. A post-pandemic industrial surge in China, the world’s biggest coal user, drove up coal use, while demand surged after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine sent gas prices higher."}],[{"start":423.3500000000001,"text":"Countries without large domestic supplies have also turned to big exporters such as Australia and Indonesia, where President Prabowo Subianto — who has vowed to phase out coal plants by 2040 — ordered increased coal production."}],[{"start":440.25000000000006,"text":"Samantha Dart, co-head of global commodities research at Goldman Sachs, said that Asian countries unable to afford alternative gas supplies to replace shipments from Qatar might opt “to rely a little bit more on coal for longer”."}],[{"start":454.83000000000004,"text":"Additional reporting by Edward White in Shanghai, Daniel Tudor in Seoul, Diana Mariska in Jakarta and William Sandlund in San Francisco. Data visualisation by Haohsiang Ko in Hong Kong"}],[{"start":null,"text":"