Asian electricity markets have made a great deal of progress over the past 25 years. But until recently, demand till outstripped supply in most countries, posing a serious challenge to industrial growth and outputs in the continent's emerging markets. Deregulation over the past two decades has had a mixed effect. Countries failing to embrace the private sector have found themselves battling electricity shortages. But, in the worst cases, market liberalisation has made electricity prices from private companies unacceptably high ― and this is a serious problem for a continent that relies on industry. According to estimates from the Asia Consulting Group (AGC), 25 Asian countries had a utility installed base of more than 750GW in 1999, including the contribution from Independent Power Producers (IPPs). There is also around 100GW of on-site power, with China, Japan and India accounting for 75 per cent of this capacity.
展开▼
