ADB signed a transaction advisory services mandate with Cambodia’s national utility company Électricité du Cambodge (EDC) for the development of 2 gigawatts (GW) of solar power in the country. Through the mandate, ADB will help EDC conduct a nationwide study on opportunities for additional solar power capacity in combination with a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), to be implemented from this year through 2030. ADB will also assist EDC in bidding out a 100-megawatt pilot project identified under the study to the private sector, which will build, finance, and operate the project. The pilot project is expected to mobilize up to $100 million of investments and serve as a model to replicate fast and efficient procurement of affordable renewable power in Cambodia. This support from ADB will help the country achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.
The mandate follows the country’s first National Solar Park located in Kampong Chhnang, which will generate up to 100 MW of solar power that ADB supported in 2019. The program will also build on BESS projects implemented by EDC with technical and financial assistance provided by ADB. The share of renewables in the country’s energy mix has increasingly grown from nil in 2016 to 12% in 2021. This mandate to support the development of 2 GW solar power is in line with Cambodia’s strategic goals of transitioning to clean energy.
More about this: ADB, EDC Sign Mandate for 2 GW Solar and Battery Storage Power Program in Cambodia