Cambodia needs US$100m a year for rural electrification

News Desk
Rasmei Kampuchea Daily
Publication Date : 03-08-2012

Cambodia needs to invest at least US$100 million a year to electrify rural areas, the Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia says. The institute quoted Toch Sovanna, director of the Department of Energy Technics at the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy, as saying that Cambodia "is needing $1 billion over the years." To develop renewable energy projects for rural electricification to reduce Cambodia's dependence on diesel consumption, that translates to about $100 million a year, he told a two-day regional energy efficiency conference. Jiraporn Sirikum, chief of the Generation System Development Planning Department at the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, said Thai dependence on natural gas would fall from 67 per cent in 2011 to about 58 per cent in 2030. Energy imports are expected to range from 15 per cent to 25 per cent.