Daily Shorts: Germany eyes geothermal, Malaysia readies EV champion

Germany plans to expand geothermal capacity 10 times by 2030, the country's chancellor said. Germany has some of Europe's biggest geothermal reserves, but has been slow to tap them. Last year, a study by Fraunhofer Institute estimated geothermal potential of more 300 terawatt hours, which could meet 25 percent of the country's annual heating needs. In June, IRENA warned that the global energy transition was off track, and urged nations to look beyond solar and wind to geothermal and other sources of power. 

Malaysia's Sime Darby announced it would buy a 62 percent stake in UMW Holdings for $770 million, creating a local auto giant that could help transition the country to EVs. Sime Darby, which already sells BYD vehicles in Malaysia, has announced plans to build charging stations along the country's peninsular highways. Southeast Asian nations are competing for roles in the global EV supply chain: Vietnam has attracted Foxconn even as local EV company VinFast heads to the US, and Indonesia is using its vast nickel reserves to attract investments. 

The IMF has called for scrapping fossil fuel subsidies, in a report highlighting the implicit and explicit costs of the fuel. The agency estimates that since 2020, governments have paid more than $1.3 trillion a year to keep fossil fuel-generated electricity prices artificially low. Last year, the world paid out $7 trillion in fossil fuel subsidies, about $2 trillion more than it paid out in 2020. So far, only Canada has declared its plan to scrap fossil fuel subsidies. The country is also targeting a Net Zero power grid by 2035. 

Indonesia is in talks with other nations for a $20 billion fund that will aid the country's energy transition. However, rising borrowing costs have slowed the process, the country's finance minister said. A group of nations, led by the US and Japan, had pledged the money to help Indonesia close its coal-based plants and bring forward peak emissions to 2030, similar to an $8.5 billion attempt in 2021 to decarbonize South Africa's power sector quicker.