Gov’t to reduce reliance on hydro
THE government will prioritise renewable energy development rather than hydroelectric power, Electricite du Cambodge (EdC) director-general Keo Rattanak has said.
Private sector insiders have ha i led t he decision, say i ng i nvest ment i n sola r power would make t he Kingdom’s manufacturing sector more c ompet it ive due to lower prices.
Speaking at a presentation on Cambodia’s 2020 energ y vision, Rattanak said Cambodia will expand its solar energ y investment by 12 per cent by t he end of next yea r a nd increase it up to 20 per cent over t he next t hree years.
He sa id t hat sola r power would be used to meet t he i n c r e a s i n g e l e c t r i c i t y dema nds i n t he i ndust r ia l and commercial sectors.
“We want to set up sola r power pla nts in many locations. We believe solar power will prov ide lower prices. As EdC’s director, I do not want to see t he Mekong River as part of the hydropower generation,” he said.
Rat ta na k sa id Ca mbodia will produce 70MW of sola r energ y nex t yea r – 10M W f rom a sola r fa r m i n Svay Rieng prov ince a nd 60M W f rom sola r power pla nts i n Ka mpong Speu prov i nce’s Oudong district.
Ca mbodia n R ice Federation (CRF) secretar y-genera l Moul Sarit h said expanding solar power plants would help reduce elect r icit y costs a nd b o o s t t h e K i n g d o m’s exports.
“I think it is good for the rice industr y as production costs wi l l be lower a nd t his wi l l provide us with greater potent ia l to compete wit h ot her countries,” he said.
Elec t r ic it y pr ic es for t he i ndust r ia l a nd commercia l s e c t o r s c u r r e nt l y r a n g e bet ween 6 0 0 a nd 80 0 r iel ($ 0.15 and $ 0.20) per kWh.
Sarit h said t he private sector has ca lled for prices to be reduced to between 400 and
500 riel per kWh. CRF member rice millers pay on average between $50,000 and $150,000 per month for elect r icit y.
The government recently approved two solar power projects which can produce 120MW of power in Pursat and Kampong Chhnang provinces, which are due to be online by the end of next year and in 2021 respectively.
The government also approved a 20MW expansion to a 60MW solar power plant which is currently under construction in Kampong Speu province’s Oudong district and scheduled to launch in December.
Cambodia Chamber of Commerce vice-president Lim Heng said EdC expanding solar power would attract foreign investors.
“I think that it’s a good thing, the cheaper the cost of electricity, the better the production levels we can achieve.
“If electricity is cheaper, it will encourage more investors to come. It’ll help the industrial sector a lot as it will help to lower production costs,” he said.