Cambodia’s 100 MW National Solar Park project: Construction Underway

Update 2022: The plant’s financier, the Asian Development Bank, is looking for project consultants. If constructed, the solar park would increase the nation’s meager electricity supply and boost the national grid technically.

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Construction of Cambodia’s 100 MW National Solar Park project already underway

The plant’s financier, the Asian Development Bank, is looking for project consultants. If constructed, the solar park would increase the nation’s meager electricity supply and boost the national grid technically.

The 100 MW Cambodian National Solar Park project, announced by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in June 2017, is already being carried out.

The large-scale solar park is scheduled to be completed in various phases, and the lender has put out an expression of interest to find project implementation specialists.

Improving the national grid and increasing renewable energy with the National Solar Park project

The national utility Electricité du Cambodge (EDCpower )’s supply will be improved as a result of the project, according to the ADB, and the grid will gain technological advantages. The initiative aims to increase renewable energy generation, diversify the generating mix, increase the use of competitive bids, and implement other international best practices in the country’s energy industry.

The solar park will be constructed on up to 200 hectares of land, and it will be linked to the EDC network in the provinces of Kampong Speu and Kampong Chhnang, which are close to the Phnom Penh demand core. This connection will be made through the GS6 grid substation.

Cambodia’s solar energy potential: Assessing the impact of the National Solar Park project and new regulations

The utility will tender the project’s initial phase at an undisclosed time, with funds coming from commercial debt and private equity. The project aims to improve EDC’s capacity to increase the share of renewable energy in its generating mix, especially via the use of energy storage technology.

According to the ADB, the park would expand on a 10 MW solar project built by Singapore’s Sunseap in Bavet, a Cambodian special economic zone located in the Svay Rieng province and close to the Vietnamese border.

A project to develop a “full economical appraisal of the potentials of solar PV energy in Cambodia” was launched by the United Nations Development Program in October. Nowadays, coal and hydropower account for 40% and 36% of the nation’s electrical supply, respectively, while another 19% of the country’s power needs are satisfied by imported energy.

In January 2018, Cambodia published new regulations for solar integration. The recommendations did not include any financial incentives, but they did set a framework for the construction of rooftop and large-scale systems. In March, Kohe Hasan, a Reed Smith partner and director of Resource Law LLC (Singapore), and Kaknika Lin, an assistant consultant at KPMG Cambodia Ltd., delivered a synopsis of the main rules and talked about the country’s investment climate.