Data Transparency for Asia’s Power Sector Decarbonisation

This report introduction by Ember argues that high-quality, open power sector data is essential for accelerating the transition from coal to clean electricity in Asia. It outlines the region's significant role in global emissions and the current challenges in accessing granular, up-to-date data, while detailing the methodology used to evaluate data transparency across 39 Asian economies.

• Asia, including Central Asia and Oceania, is a critical region for global climate goals as it contains 80% of the world's coal generation and 62% of global power sector emissions. Electricity demand in the region has grown by 4.5% annually over the last decade, which is approximately double the global average.
• Data transparency is necessary for evidence-based policymaking, identifying investment needs for clean power, and implementing technical grid optimizations such as generation forecasting, demand-side management, and smart metering.
• There is a significant gap in data availability in Asia compared to North America and Europe; monthly generation data in Asia can only be collected from a few economies, creating barriers to science and policy-making.
• Ember evaluated 74 data sources across 39 economies in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Oceania, Central Asia, and West Asia (excluding those with annual demand under 1 TWh). Sources were scored from 0-5 based on time granularity, publishing lag, geographical granularity, fuel breakdown, ease of access, and the presence of additional necessary data.

APA

Ember (2023). Data Transparency for Asia’s Power Sector Decarbonisation. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/introduction/

Chicago

Ember. Data Transparency for Asia’s Power Sector Decarbonisation. 2023. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/introduction/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Ember |title=Data Transparency for Asia’s Power Sector Decarbonisation |date=4 May 2023 |url=https://ember-energy.org/chapter/introduction/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ember2023data, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{Data Transparency for Asia’s Power Sector Decarbonisation}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2023}, month = may, url = {https://ember-energy.org/chapter/introduction/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }