The photo is sourced from oregonohio.com
A total of 93 gas-fired power plants with the overall capacity of 68.6 gigawatt (GW) are currently under construction in Asia, and another 86 plants with a capacity of 68.7 GW are in the pre-investment stage. China remains the industry leader in the region: 54 power plants with a capacity of 31.8 GW are under construction in this country, with another 52 plants with a capacity of 28.7 GW in the pre-investment stage. Gas-fired power output in China grew almost fourfold between 2010 and 2021 (from 78 TWh to 273 TWh), and its share in the power generation mix rose from 1.8% to 3.2% according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy. Further increases in the use of gas for power generation will help China reduce emissions: according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), gas-fired power plants on average produce 40% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than coal-fired power plants (490 g CO2-equivalent per kWh vs 840 g CO2-equivalent per kWh output).
The top 3 of the region’s industry leaders is rounded out by Taiwan (China), where 4 gas-fired power plants with a capacity of 9.9 GW were under construction by August 2022, and Thailand, which is building 5 plants with a capacity of 5.5 GW. The new projects are driven by, among other things, transitioning from coal-fired generation: in 2020–2021, neither of the two countries brought on stream a coal-fired power unit while the capacity of power plants based on renewable energy sources (RES) grew by 3.8 GW in Taiwan and by 0.2 GW in Thailand.
South Korea, where 7 gas-fired power plants with an overall capacity of 5 GW are being built, ranks fourth on the list. Comparatively high availability of gas is crucial here: in 2021, South Korea ranked third worldwide in terms of liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports (with a global share of 12.4%). Its neighbour, Japan, which lost the title of the world’s leading LNG importer in 2021, is building 3 gas-fired power plants with a total capacity of 2.7 GW, lagging behind Indonesia (4 plants totaling 4.8 GW) and Bangladesh (6 plants totaling 3.1 GW). Finally, coming in last in the top 10 is India, whose under-construction capacities (0.7 GW) are smaller than those of the Philippines (1.9 GW) and Malaysia (1.2 GW).
