New Report! Coastal Blackout? Power assets vulnerable to rising seas demand rethink of energy resilience & transition strategies across North Asia

by CWR 10 September, 2024

Hong Kong, 10th September 2024 – CWR releases a new report, “Coastal Blackout? Power assets vulnerable to rising seas demand rethink of energy resilience & transition strategies across North Asia”.

The report, which analysed 849GW of power assets located in coastal regions in China, Japan and South Korea, reveals that fast rising seas could swamp coastal power plants of these economic powerhouses sooner than we think, causing coastal blackouts.

Impacts are sizeable – power assets almost equivalent to the national installed capacity of Indonesia are vulnerable to 1m of sea level rise (SLR) whereas at 3m, power assets affected will be greater than the combined national installed capacity of Vietnam and the Philippines.

The report is the third in CWR’s new 2024 “Accelerated Threat Series” and aims to address fast rising seas, an imminent threat multiplier if we do not manage to keep warming within 1.5°C.

Already, key drivers of SLR are running well ahead of projections, yet warming is still soaring to 1.64°C for the 12 months to July 2024. With emissions still rising, our current emissions path means we could well see 2-3m of SLR by 2100; we worry that we may see up to 1m by 2050.

Rapid & deep emission cuts are the only way to slow down fast rising seas. Here, the reports revealed significant opportunities for the early retirement of 44GW of coal-fired power plants – this is 1.1x the combined powergen capacity of Malaysia, Cambodia & Brunei.

So check out the report and get on top of SLR risks as well as opportunities to fast track transition today:

It’s time to face reality & see how global heating is speeding up sea level rise. Get on top of these escalating risks now!

Check out the Full Report, Executive Summary & Press Release.

“…deep dives into 63 provinces and prefectures plus different power types from coal & nuclear to solar showed a double whammy hit: 1) clear concentrated risks at province and prefecture levels; and 2) material exposure for clean energy portfolios across all three countries.” 


“Evidently, such high levels of SLR exposure demand a rethink of energy resilience and transition strategies for China, Japan and South Korea.”

“Every effort needs to be made to fast track transition and our report reveals multiple opportunities – for example, there are 44GW of coal-fired power plants that are vulnerable to 1m of SLR – we can start by retiring these now, after all they may be flooded within 30 years.” 

“’Sooner & higher’ rising seas means we can no longer ignore these risks. Storm surges from typhoons today are already knocking out power and fast rising seas will only magnify these acute risks. No industry or city can run without power so take action to waterproof your assets or portfolios now, especially in the hotspots identified in the report.” 

Dr CT Low, Geospatial Risk Lead & report lead author

“Such levels of exposure in clean energy portfolios could stymie transition efforts. For Japan and South Korea, this could further set back their already laggard transition actions. There are also clear EV adoption implications for all three countries”.

“The impetus is clear, beyond energy security, there is a lot at stake: coastal populations, cities, trade and economies. We cannot negotiate with the melting point of ice.”    

 

“Once triggered, we cannot “undo” rising seas, we can only slow it down. There is time to do this, but not much left – 6 years to deliver deep emission cuts. Don’t wait.”

Debra Tan, Head of CWR & report co-author

 

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