The auction of a 60MW solar project in Cambodia has resulted in the lowest PV power purchase tariff reportedly seen in Southeast Asia to date, at US$38.77 per MWh.
Thai developer Prime Road submitted the record-breaking bid at a tender conducted by national electricity utility Electricité du Cambodge (EDC). Twenty-six companies bid in total, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) acted as the transaction advisor.
Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis
Photovoltaics International is now included.
- Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
- In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
- Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
- Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
- Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
- Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual
Or continue reading this article for free
The 60MW output will be generated by Cambodia's so-called National Solar Park, a 100MW project planned northwest of capital Phnom Penh in Kampong Chhnang province. It is a private-public partnership backed by the ADB, which approved a US$7.64 million loan to support the project in May.
Together with US$14 million in loan and grant money from the World Bank’s SREP programme, the ADB’s backing will help build the solar park, roads into the site, drainage extensions, fencing and a transmission line linking the project to Cambodia’s national grid.
Upon completion, the park will supply power to EDC under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA).
Siddharta Shah, director of public-private partnerships at ADB, said in a statement that the record-low prices heralded “a new era for renewable energy development in Cambodia and the region, and particularly for solar power generation […] We believe more governments in the region will adopt auctions as a strategy to procure renewable energy generation capacity, and this structure and tariff will serve as a benchmark for future projects.”
The solar park’s 100MW will mark a sizeable jump for Cambodia’s solar industry, which had a mere 28MW installed in 2018, according to IRENA statistics.
Cambodia’s only large-scale solar farm is Singapore construction firm Sunseap’s 10MW project in Bavet, near the border with Vietnam, also backed by the ADB.