1.   General Situation of Electricity Supply

General situation of electricity supply

The Electricity Law was promulgated in February 2001 with the view to regulate the power sector and the Electricity Authority of Cambodia (EAC) was established as a legal public entity to act as the Regulator and the arbitrator of power sector business activities.

Cambodian strategy for the development of electricity supply is to construct transmission lines between major cities in southern and western regions[1] in order to construct large-scale power generating plants and to import electric power from neighboring countries during the construction period of such power plants.

In Cambodia, electricity is generated and/or distributed by the following entities;

• Electricite Du Cambodge (EDC), a government enterprise
• Private entities including Independent Power Producers (IPP) in the provincial towns
• Licensees in smaller towns, and
• Rural Electricity Enterprises (REE) in the rural areas

EDC has a consolidated license (generation, distribution and transmission) for electricity supply in Phnom Penh, Knadal, in the 12 following provincial capitals, namely, Sihanoukville, Kampong Cham, Takeo and Battambang, Siem Reap, Bonteay Meanchey, Kampot, Kampong Speu, Steng Treng, Svay Rieng, Prey Veng, Rattanakiri (Banlung), and in the four following regions bordering on Vietnam, namely Bavet (Svay Rieng), Memot (Kampong Cham), Phonhea Krek (Kampong Cham) and Kampong Trach (Kampot).

The electricity supply currently does not meet the basic demands, where 24-hour supply of electricity is not assured and the quality of electricity is not reliable. According to the Power Development Plan of the Kingdom of Cambodia in 2007, electricity demand is expected to show a rapid increase until 2020. The future power demand is summarized in below table.

Power Demand Forecast (MW)

Source: MIME

2. Electricity supply expansion

In order to meet the increasing demand, the RGC has developed the power source expansion plan under the Power Development Plan for a period of 2008-2021. In line with the power source expansion, transmission lines are under construction and electric power has been imported from neighboring countries. Currently, 22.47% of Cambodian households have access to the electricity (54% of urban households and 13% of rural households). EDC aims to provide electricity service to 100% of all the villages by 2020 and 70% of all the rural households by 2030.

Regarding the expansion of power source, the Department of Energy Development of MIME formulated electricity supply development plan up to 2020. According to this plan, as below table indicates, the construction of eight hydro power plants and three coal power plants will be completed by 2020. In total, including imported electricity, approximately 3,576 MW at the maximum will be generated in 2020.

Expansion Plan of Power Sources

Source: MIME

According to MIME, as shown in below table, the construction of transmission lines to import electricity from Thailand and Vietnam will be completed by the end of 2012 and, as a result, the electricity will be supplied for most parts of Cambodia. Besides, further expansion of transmission lines, which interconnects with Lao PDR as well as other neighboring countries, will be completed by the end of 2016.

Expansion Plan of Transmission Line

Source: MIME

The Power Cooperation Agreement with Vietnam was signed on 10 June 1999 and the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) was made in 2001, which was supposed to be renewed every five years. Since 2002, EDC has imported electricity from Power Company 2 (PC2) of Vietnam to supply for Bavet (Svay Rieng), Memot (Kampong Cham), Phonhea Krek (Kampong Cham), etc. For supplying the electricity to Phnom Penh, the purchasing agreement of 200MW was concluded with Vietnam and the construction of 220kV-transmission line, which interconnects Phnom Penh/Takeo to Vietnam, has been completed. Under this purchasing agreement, transmission of 120 MW from Vietnam to Phnom Penh, which requires 300 MW daily, has already begun. Although another 50 MW, totally 170 MW out of contracted 200 MW, is planned to be transmitted, due to the recent shortage of electric in Vietnam, it has not been realized.

PPA was first made with Thailand in 2002 and was amended in 2007. Currently, electric power between Cambodia and Thailand is transmitted at 22 kV and 115 kV levels. An agreement was signed with Trat Province (Thailand) to supply power for Koh Kong and Poi Pet (Cambodia) by using 22 kV line. The above areas have been connected since 2001. Since November 2007, power has been imported through 115 kV transmission line from Arranh Prathet substation (Thailand) and supplied for Battambang, Siem Reap, etc.

The Power Cooperation Agreement with Lao PDR was signed in October 1999. Both countries agreed on power interconnection by 115 kV line between southern Lao and Stung Treng, Cambodia. The construction of the transmission line is scheduled to be completed in 2016.

Rural electrification is one of the key issues. Cambodia’s strategy of rural electrification has been prepared basing on “Rural Electrification Master Plan” which focuses renewable energy and, under the Master Plan, Cambodia Energy Sector Strategy (CESS)[1] was formulated. Rural Electrification Fund (REF) was established in 2004. Two 370KW micro hydro power stations have been constructed and one reserve 300KW diesel generator has been installed. They are currently fully operational to provide electricity to the provincial town of Mondulkiri.

3.   Electricity Tariff

The electricity tariffs in major cities and provinces are shown in “Business Cost” under “Business Environment” of the Top Page.