ADB Assists Cambodia on Energy Transition Programme

• 15 December 2022
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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a sector development programme that combines a US$50 million policy-based loan package with US$23 million in project investments to support the energy transition of Cambodia 

According to a press release issued on 15 December, the Energy Transition Sector Development Program includes ADB’s first comprehensive policy reform package for the energy sector in Cambodia, which will be funded by a US$40 million loan from ADB’s concessional resources and a US$10 million loan from the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund under its ASEAN Catalytic Green Finance Facility (ACGF). 

For the US$23 million in infrastructure investments, the Climate Investment Fund’s Scaling Up Renewable Energy Programme for Cambodia will provide a US$6 million loan and US$5 million grant in concessional climate finance, while the Green Climate Fund will extend a US$12 million loan through the ACGF Green Recovery Programme, all of which will be administered by ADB. 

The programme supports the Government of Cambodia’s energy transition agenda to mainstream renewable energy and energy efficiency while shifting away from fossil fuels. It adopts data-driven regulation and planning for the power system to enhance flexibility and resilience. It anchors new infrastructure investments on strategic planning while demonstrating new technologies and business models. 

The programme builds on key successes demonstrating the energy transition in action. The country’s first grid-connected solar photovoltaic system was driven by the private sector and financed by ADB in 2016. 

With further ADB support in 2018, the government prepared a solar master plan and launched Cambodia’s first solar park with a capacity of 100 megawatts in 2019 under a public–private partnership approach, which resulted in the lowest price for solar photovoltaic in the region at the time. 

Earlier this year, the government initiated the development of a 2-gigawatt solar plus storage procurement programme, which ADB also supports. 

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