Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/296767 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
ADBI Working Paper No. 1372
Publisher: 
Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), Tokyo
Abstract: 
There are many indicators of energy security. Few measure what really matters-an affordable and reliable energy supply-and the trade-offs between the affordability and reliability. Reliability is physical, affordability is economic. The latest Russian invasion of Ukraine highlights some of the problems with energy security, from long-term contracts being broken to supposedly secure supplies being diverted to retired power plants being recommissioned to spillovers to other markets. Energy security requires government intervention. Policies on energy access and poverty should shift from price support, widespread in Asia, to income support. The transition to carbon-free energy poses new challenges for energy security, from a shift in dependence from some resources (coal, oil, gas) to others (rare earths, wind, sunshine) to substantial redundancies in the energy capital stock to undercapitalized energy companies, while regulatory uncertainty deters investment. Renewables improve energy security in one dimension, but worsen it in others, particularly due to long spells of little wind. Security problems with rare earths and borrowed capital are less pronounced. The potential for asset stranding by climate policy is particularly large in Asia.
Subjects: 
affordability
reliability
violent conflict
climate policy
JEL: 
Q34
Q37
Q48
Q5
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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