Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

had a total primary energy supply (

TPES Primary energy (PE) is an energy form found in nature that has not been subjected to any human engineered conversion process. It is energy contained in raw fuels, and other forms of energy, including waste, received as input to a system. Pr ...

) of 5.48 Mtoe in 2012. Electricity consumption was 3.06

TWh TWH or twh could refer to: * Tai Dón language, a language of Vietnam, Laos, and China * Tai Wo Hau station, Hong Kong; MTR station code * Tennessee Walking Horse, a breed of horse * Toronto Western Hospital, a hospital in Toronto, Canada * Tun ...

. About one third of the energy came from oil products and about two thirds from biofuels and waste. Cambodia has significant potential for developing

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

. In 2020, however, the country had no set renewable energy targets. To attract more investment in renewable energy the country could adopt clear renewable energy targets, improve renewable energy governance and facilitate market entry for foreign investors. Along with other

ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

member states, Cambodia remains one of the most vulnerable countries to

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

in the world; therefore, it is recommended that the country focuses on developing more renewable energy as part of

climate change mitigation Climate change mitigation is action to limit climate change by reducing Greenhouse gas emissions, emissions of greenhouse gases or Carbon sink, removing those gases from the atmosphere. The recent rise in global average temperature is mostly caus ...

policies. Cambodia controls

offshore oil Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the te ...

reserves in the

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in l ...

; however, the only attempt to extract oil ended in the failure in 2021 of the

Apsara field The Apsara field is a subsea oil field in Cambodian waters in the central Gulf of Thailand. Oil was discovered in the area in the early 2000s, but was produced only briefly in the early 2020s before the project collapsed after failing to meet produ ...

project after production did not meet expectations. Cambodia's domestic energy supply in 2021 was 9,255 GWh, with 44% hydro, 41% coal, 8% fuel oil, and 6% solar. Many rural communities are making use of solar power to access electricity. Cambodia had 305 MW of solar installed at the end of 2021, with seven grid-connected projects. Another 700 MW was planned or under construction. Cambodia could potentially base its energy system on 100% renewable energy, but this would require large investments, including in energy storage systems.

References

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See also

References