VATIS UPDATE Article

Solar firm Sunseap, Singapore, is building a US$9.2 million solar power plant in Cambodia which will provide a quarter of the energy needs of the city of Bavet, and will cut the country’s emissions by 5,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year. The US$9.2 million solar farm, slated to be operational by August 2017, will be Cambodia’s first sun-powered electricity source to be connected to the national grid.

The farm will provide Southeast Asia’s second poorest country with 10 megawatts (MW) of power. This is enough to meet a quarter of the energy demands of Bavet, a frontier city of 37,000 people, where the park is located. The 21-hectare installation is a flagship project for a country that relies heavily on hydropower and fossil fuels, as well as energy imports from neighboring Viet Nam, to meet its growing energy demands.

The solar farm is expected to reduce Cambodia’s green house gas (GHG) emissions by 5,500 tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year. The World Bank estimates that in 2013, Cambodia’s annual emissions were about 5,574,000 tonnes. The project is being funded partly by loans from Asian Development Bank, the Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector in Asia, and also a private investor.