Cambodia’s upcoming revision of its power development plan may include LNG-fired power plants

Cambodia's gas and power markets at a glance

Cambodia does not produce, import, or consume natural gas currently. However, it's power market has been growing rapidly. In the past decade, power demand growth has been outpacing real GDP growth, averaging 17% over the last five years. Yet, power demand still has room to grow. The electrification rate is low at around 50% and increasing access to electricity is a necessity.

Cambodia's overall generation figures and generation mix has evolved tremendously in the past decade. Firstly, generation (including power imports) has quadrupled from 1,858 GWh in 2008 to 8,073 GWh in 2017. The generation mix has changed too. Ten years ago, generation consisted of largely oil-generation and imported electricity. At present, the generation mix is more diverse, comprising hydropower, coal-fired power, and power imports. Oil generation has decreased overtime as well.

Power development plan

The 2016 power development plan (PDP) included bullish targets for generation. The plan included a 2025 generation target of 14,951 GWh. To achieve this generation growth, the PDP called for 1,701 MW of additional hydro capacity, 720 MW of additional coal-fired capacity, and potentially 300 MW of new gas-fired capacity.

We understand that the Ministry of Mines and Energy are in the middle of revising the 2016 PDP at present. Because of the seasonality of hydropower, the ministry is looking to replace additional hydropower capacity listed in the 2016 PDP with a less seasonal source of electricity. IHS Markit understands the ministry is looking to introduce approximately 1,500 MW of LNG-fired capacity and some solar capacity in the upcoming revision of the PDP. However, this revision is still at an early stage. Nevertheless, this shows the government's willingness to consider gas generation. Additionally, private investors, both local and international, have announced plans to build LNG-related infrastructure in the country.

Clients can find further details about Cambodia's gas and power markets in our new reports on Connect: The road to first gas: Strategic directions for the development of Cambodia's gas and LNG market and Cambodia Power Market Profile.

Learn more about our global power industry outlook services.

Geena Chatterji is a Senior Research Analyst for IHS Markit.

Posted 15 July 2019

This article was published by S&P Global Commodity Insights and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.