Jakarta/Singapore, Tuesday 8 September 2026 – New analysis from Market Forces reveals that the three largest Singaporean banks — DBS, OCBC, and UOB — have been bankrolling industrial ‘captive’ coal power plants between 2020 and 2025, despite publicly announcing and committing to cease financing coal projects in 2019.
The research by Market Forces titled ‘Banks said no to new coal. Loopholes say otherwise,’ published today, Tuesday (9/8/2026), also finds Singapore’s major banks have significant policy loopholes which enable financing of companies developing or operating captive coal power.
All three major Singaporean banks are involved in financing captive coal projects, including Harita Group — a major nickel producer, operating on Obi Island — which has been supported with loans of US$923 million.
Singaporean banks have also financed other companies dependent on captive coal power plants to produce nickel and aluminium, including PT ANTAM Tbk, PT Mineral Industri Indonesia (Persero), and Tsingshan Holding Group, according to Earthwise Institute.
Ginanjar Ariyasuta, Finance Campaigner at Market Forces said, “It’s very concerning that the big Singapore banks are leaving room to finance coal power plants on an industrial scale. If Singapore’s banks are truly committed to ending finance for coal in line with their climate commitments, they must close this dirty great loophole big enough for a herd of elephants.”
The analysis finds that Singapore’s banks have policies allowing continued coal financing to enable fossil fuel operations to expand without a clear timeline for a complete phase-out.
Data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) indicates that Indonesia had 19.3 GW of captive coal power plant capacity in operation as of 2025, with the potential to expand to 31 GW.
The analysis finds inconsistent and inadequate bank policies regarding coal financing.
DBS explicitly excludes finance for captive coal power plants, while OCBC and UOB have financing restrictions limited to clients in the power-generation sector, which enables them to still fund industrial coal despite committing to end support for the polluting fossil fuel.
In fact, the analysis reveals that captive coal power plants account for approximately 80% of the total new coal capacity additions in Indonesia between July 2024 and July 2025.
The research also finds that physical climate risks are adding further layers of risk to industrial coal power plant operations. Flooding is forecast to cause significant losses and has severely affected the Morowali nickel-processing region in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, demonstrating the exposure of major industrial areas to increasingly severe weather events.
“Financing industrial coal power extends well beyond Indonesia’s borders, as Southeast Asia will see an increase in electricity demand of over 100 TWh between 2025 and 2030,” said Mr Ariyasuta.
“Bank financing policies are influencing the future of industry and will worsen the climate crisis impacts that millions are experiencing if we keep financing coal rather than cleaner energy.”
For media inquiries and interviews contact:
Antony Balmain, +61-423-253-477, [email protected]
Ginanjar Ariyasuta +62 851-5656-8359, [email protected]