Cambodia’s power development master plan 2021-2040, to be submitted to the government for approval soon, aims to address high costs and energy shortages in Cambodia, a senior official at the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) said at a meeting on Saturday.
A group of MME officials led by its secretary of state Dith Tina on Saturday met a business delegation from Austria led by Guamur Sucmer, advisor on community of the Embassy of Austria located in Bangkok, to discuss the status of the plan and the latter’s interest to invest in hydropower stations in Cambodia.
“The new master plan is aimed not only at supplying sufficient and steady electricity, maintaining energy stability and providing better prices, but also developing clean energy sources,” a release said.
However, Victor Jona, MME Director General of General Department of Energy (GDE), told Khmer Times that the preparation of the master plan — a roadmap for energy development sector — is still in the process and will be submitted to the government for approval later this year.
Jona added that energy consumption increases or falls between seven percent and 10 percent annually and the master plan needs to address the issue by including a new policy that aims at promoting efficiency in consumption in the wake of climate change concerns.
The master plan will also include the role of energy service companies —consultancy companies specialising in energy audits or energy monitoring services or equipment suppliers — by presenting a comprehensive plan to maximize energy savings through multiple measures. “For example, a big hotel has insufficient electricity or facing waste of electricity. So, energy service companies (ESCOs) will recommend it to use efficient bulbs or would rather be asked to use a big air-conditioner and share to small ones so the consumption of electricity is reduced. This is a big concept,” Jona explained. “Another example is that of TV sets. Even though old-style television is cheap, it consumes more electricity. So, you better use LED or Smart television because even though their prices are high, they are energy-efficient and can help reduce pollution,” he explained. As the energy service industry is in its infancy in Cambodia, the Kingdom needs to source technical knowledge from abroad. Local companies should get registration and meet licensing requirements to improve trust, according to a report titled ‘Energy Efficiency and Conservation Master Plan of Cambodia.’
“ESCO has not started in Cambodia yet. GDE should invite foreign ESCOs such as those in Malaysia and Thailand to Cambodia quickly,” the report said.
This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
