Cambodia. Germany invests $36 million in rural power

German Development Cooperation has invested 30 million euros ($36 million) in concessional lending to Cambodia to enhance energy efficiency and rural power supply. The funding will go into upgrading and expanding the power grid for the country’s rural network, which will contribute to the reaching of Cambodia’s ambitious targets in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and delivering on its promise of universal energy access by 2030.

The new investment follows an initial 30 million euros reduced-interest loan committed in 2018, bringing Germany’s investments in improvement measures in energy efficiency in the Kingdom to 60 million euros in total. According to the German embassy, the 2018 investment has already resulted in the reduction of 20,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum, a 20 percent increase of net energy transmitted via the upgraded grid, and providing an additional 15,000 households with access to electricity.

The German Ambassador to Cambodia Christian Berger said, “A better power grid is good for the people, good for the economy and good for the planet. The German investment aims at better energy access, lower energy costs, a more reliable energy supply and fewer greenhouse gas emissions.” According to a 2018 report, 97.6 percent of Cambodia’s households have access to at least one source of electricity, with 71.5 percent of households having access through the grid and 26.1 percent having access via off-grid solutions.

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