灵活燃煤电力购电协议改革：聚焦南亚与东南亚电力系统

A focus on South and Southeast Asianpower systems Please cite as: Agora Energiewende (2026): Reforming power purchase agreements for flexible coal power.A focus on South and Southeast Asian power systems. www.agora-energiewende.org/publications/reforming-power-purchase-agreements-for-flexible-coal-power Study Reforming power purchase agreements for flexible coal power. A focus on South and Southeast Asianpower systems. Written by Agora Energiewende29 Chit Lom Alley, Lumphini, Pathum Wan10330 Bangkok | Thailandwww.agora-energiewende.orginfo@agora-energiewende.de Project lead Ernst KunemanErnst.kuneman@agora-energiewende.de Authors Ernst Kuneman (Agora Energiewende)Anatole Boute (The Chinese University of Hong Kong) Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following colleagues for peer reviewing an earlier draft of the report: ChristianRedl,Tatiana Lanshina (all Agora Energiewende), Arjuna Dibley (National University of Singapore) and SiddarthaRamakanth Keshavadasu (Nangia & Co LLP). We also would like to thank Seoyeon Ha (Agora Energiewende) forexcellent research assistance. We further extend our gratitude to colleagues and partners for the expert insightsthey provided as part of the report consultation process, including Alberto Dalasung III (Institute for Climate andSustainable Cities), Guanying Liu, Ziyi Ma (World Resources Institute), Kirana D. Sastrawijaya, Angela Vania Rustandi(all UMBRA-Strategic Legal Solutions), Paul Butarbutar (Indonesia Climate and Growth Dialogue), Axel Priambodo(Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia) as well as experts from law firms, utilities,regulatory authorities, and lending institutions who have been anonymised for confidentiality reasons. Disclaimer Neither Agora Energiewende nor any of its employees or any supporting organisation, nor the authors of thisstudy or the organisations to which they are affiliated, give any guarantee, expressed or implied, or assume anylegal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, apparatus, productor process provided or described in this report, or claim that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Preface Young coal fleets make full-scale early retirementpolitically and economically challenging. Fortunately,some assets can shift from baseload to flexible oper-ation, reducing renewable curtailment and providingbackup supply during system contingencies. Dear reader, South and Southeast Asian economies’ energytransitions are at an inflection point. Renewables arescaling up, yet coal continues to dominate electricitygeneration across the region. This report identifiesreform opportunities so that coal power can facilitatethe transition to renewables. New contractual arrangements will be needed to turnexisting coal power capacity from an obstacle into afacilitator of renewable integration. The study findsthat reforming coal power contracts with clarity andfairness offers an opportunity to advance climategoals while sustaining the investment certainty thatthe clean energy transition depends on. The market structures and long-term contracts thatgovern coal power were designed for a different era,one in which coal plants ran at high capacity to meetrising baseload demand. Today, as power systemoperations are increasingly shaped by the need tointegrate wind and solar power, flexible capacitymust be made available in a timely manner and insufficient volume. We wish you an insightful read! Dimitri PesciaDirector Power System Transformation Key findings at a glance As flexibility requirements across Asia’s power systems increase in step with renewables build-out,existing thermal power assets need to shift away from baseload operations.The region’s youngcoal fleets can technically support rapid solar and wind integration, but existing long-term coal con-tracts do not encourage and often constrain flexible generation. Repurposing for flexibility, in addi-tion to early retirement, offers a practical transition route ahead of decommissioning. 2Repurposing coal power plants for flexibility can reduce overall costs and emissions, but onlywithin a clear coal-to-renewables transition framework.This means rapidly scaling renewables andsetting binding guardrails to mitigate climate and economic risks such as a moratorium on new coaland firm retirement dates tied to renewables milestones. The coal fleet itself should be reorganised:repurpose young, efficient units for flexibility; reserve mid-life plants for system adequacy; and re-tire the oldest, least efficient units. 3Reformed revenue models would incentivise flexible coal operations in support of the renewablestransition, while helping utilities procure system services cost-efficiently.In single-buyer systemslike Indonesia, utilities can remunerate coal plant flexibility within the PPA framework througha three-part tariff that remunerate flexible capacity, energy and ancillary service