Thailand
Cambodia: High electricity demand growth expected post-Covid
Cambodia expects a huge growth in electricity demand to meet the needs of a recovering economy when the Coronavirus pandemic ends, says the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
It added the additional necessary power sources will come from fossil fuel plants.
The prediction comes after the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Cambodia’s economic growth would probably be 4 percent in 2021 and higher in years to come after a 3.1 contraction in gross domestic product last year. Growth had averaged 7 percent for several years before the pandemic struck.
Minister of Mines and Energy Suy Sem said before 2020 that electricity demand had increased at an annual rate of 15 to 23 percent.
“If we believe the IMF estimate, we might then expect rapid growth in electricity demand and it may again rebound to the pre-Covid-19 level or even higher,” Sem said during the virtual First Asia CCUS [carbon capture, utilisation and storage] Network Forum last week.
He added at present, Cambodia’s energy generation mixture is based on conventional sources – coal and hydropower electricity.
“Given present statistics, Cambodia has already contributed a very high share of renewable energy in the primary energy supply as well as in the power generation mix,” Sem said.
In 2020, Cambodia’s primary energy supply consisted of 60 percent combined fossil fuels (coal and gas) with the remaining 40 percent being a combination of renewables such as hydropower, solar and biomass.
Looking forward to the year 2040, a wide range of generating technologies available to the country, especially liquefied natural gas and renewable energy, will play a crucial role in the energy mixture, Sem said.
“Cambodia realises that our energy system will continue to depend on fossil fuel use in the foreseeable future so it is very important to ensure that these fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas will be used in a cleaner manner,” he added.
Demand for electricity has dropped to 1,700 megawatts (mW)in 2020 from 2,000mW in 2019 because of the economic crisis caused by Coronavirus, which severely affected tourism and the hospitality sector, such as hotels, bars, massage parlours and restaurants and garment factories.
With the rapid growth in electricity demand, the Cambodian government has invested in the installation of energy-producing plants such as a 400mW power plant in Lvea Em district, in eastern Phnom Penh, as well as a hydropower dam and solar photovoltaic projects.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50885426/high-electricity-demand-growth-expected-post-covid/