Cambodia to Boost Clean Energy Use — But Coal Plants Planned Too

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Re: Cambodia to Boost Clean Energy Use — But Coal Plants Planned Too

Post by SternAAlbifrons »

Lonestar wrote: Thu Oct 17, 2019 7:58 pm I am not opposed to any form of energy.
"Wind and solar are incredibly expensive, extremely intermittent and diffuse, not that "clean" in terms of carbon footprint, and are absolutely wrong for Cambodia"

Sorry, I must have misunderstood you.
(but not sure which time)

Not arguing with you on the need for power, Lonestar.
But the (2nd) quoted statement above is simply not correct.
And certainly does not account for the rapidly changing tech and cost trends.
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Re: Cambodia to Boost Clean Energy Use — But Coal Plants Planned Too

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Looking on the bright side
When it comes to quick, clean and scalable solutions to Cambodia’s energy dreams, a recent surge in investment in solar power is promising a pathway to prosperity

WHY WE WROTE THIS: Because cheap, renewable energy is within our grasp.
Paul Millar
October 31, 2019

Cambodia has more to fear than most nations from the impending climate crisis. A 2015 United Nations report predicted that Cambodia would be the world’s ninth-most vulnerable nation for natural disasters brought on by rising temperatures – mainly in the form of the droughts and floods that have become an all-too-common occurrence in the Kingdom, costing lives and livelihoods every year.

And even when it’s not a matter of life and death, the stakes are still high. Last dry season, Cambodia was rocked by rolling blackouts brought on by low water in the hydrodam reservoirs and higher than expected electricity demands from new developments. In total, Cambodia was short 400MW. For the countless small business owners as well as larger manufacturers driving Cambodia’s booming economy, the losses were incalculable.

Cambodia certainly seems to be betting on a bright future. In the past year, the total amount of installed solar rose to 120MW

But while the government has moved to secure a series of power purchase agreements with neighbouring countries, much of the energy generated by these negotiations will not come online for as long as five years. Instead, the Kingdom is increasingly looking at shorter-term solutions to its energy needs – ones that can power Cambodia’s development without driving further climate collapse that could haunt the nation for decades to come.

And Cambodia certainly seems to be betting on a bright future. In the past year, the total amount of installed solar rose to 120MW, at least 30MW of which came in the form of rooftop solar systems. Chief among this push has been the installation of a massive 30,000 grid-tied panels from Chip Mong Insee Cement ranging from curved rooftop panels to those designed to float on water.
Cambodia is doubling down on its investment in solar power

Perhaps even more significant than this infrastructure development has been the progress towards clarifying a regulatory framework for solar generation. In January 2018, the Electricity Authority of Cambodia (EAC) enacted a set of regulations allowing consumers to install their own solar power systems. Medium- and high-voltage consumers will be able to install systems while still being connected to the national grid – provided that they generate less than 50% of the capacity they have agreed to buy from the national provider. The EAC has announced new tariffs to start in 2021 for industrial and commercial customers that set monthly peak demand charges and kWh price. This will improve the case for rooftop solar projects. As far as next steps go, a future development that could help significantly would be regulation around a feed-in-tariff – that is, a price on electricity supplied back into the grid. Here, Cambodia would be building on the success that such guarantee in other ASEAN countries including Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Indeed, solar power is fast taking off in the Kingdom. Last month, four solar projects with a combined capacity of 140 MW were approved by the Council of Ministers across Pursat, Battambang, Banteay Meanchey and Svay Rieng. This brings the total amount of large scale solar projects that are either built, under construction or approved to 410MW. By comparison the total generation capacity in Cambodia in 2018 was 2,208MW.

The arguments for solar power as a solution to Cambodia’s energy woes are strong. Above all is price – Cambodia’s first solar auction set an electricity price at $0.03877/kWh
– according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a record low for Southeast Asia, and less than half the cost of coal power.

ADB office of public-private partnerships director Siddharta Shah said that the tender’s success showed the sheer power of competition.

“This is a new era for renewable energy development in Cambodia and the region, and particularly for solar power generation,” he said. “This is good news for EDC and the people of Cambodia. 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.”
Full article: https://southeastasiaglobe.com/how-sola ... rgy-needs/
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Re: Cambodia to Boost Clean Energy Use — But Coal Plants Planned Too

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In Cambodia, solar power surges
Lili Pike
03.12.2019
Cambodia has turned to solar to meet its energy shortage, but it’s not quite ready to give up fossil fuels
One hour west of Cambodia’s capital an array of iridescent panels stretches between palm trees, glistening through dust clouds from a neighbouring highway. A year ago it was a barren expanse of chalky soil. Now it’s Cambodia’s largest solar farm.

The joint Cambodian-Chinese project, which came online in August, is only Cambodia’s second utility-scale solar project. But the government has approved more than four major solar farms to be built across the country.

For a nation that has relied on massive dams, fuel oil, and more recently, coal power for electricity, the solar surge is a significant step toward a lower-carbon electricity grid. However, Cambodia has also signed off on more fossil fuel power plants. As electricity demand in the country and across Southeast Asia continues to climb, whether solar can displace fossil-fuel-generated power will greatly influence the region’s air pollution and carbon emissions.
Image

With its sunny climate, Cambodia has strong solar-development potential: an estimated minimum of 8,000 megawatts of capacity. But as recently as 2016 the Cambodian government was sceptical of solar. Policymakers expressed concerns that it was too expensive and unreliable, and the government did not include any renewable energy projects or targets in its national energy plan.

“Five years ago, I think it still was reasonably correct for policymakers to say that they did not see a way for solar to compete with alternatives that were locally available,” said Courtney Weatherby, a researcher at the Stimson Center who focuses on power planning in the region. But since then the country has rapidly changed course, she said.

Over the past decade, Cambodia’s electricity usage shot up – averaging a 20% annual increase in demand since 2010. Power supplies were already having trouble keeping up, but then a lengthy drought struck earlier this year, crippling the country’s dams, which have historically provided the bulk of its electricity.
Image
In response, the government commissioned the four new solar farms, as well as a new diesel power station and a dam. Cambodia now plans to generate 20% of its power from solar within the next few years, up from just 1% in 2018.

The fact solar farms can be constructed in months makes them an appealing choice to address the energy shortage; dams and fossil fuel plants typically take much longer.

Falling costs have also helped boost solar. In many countries across the region, new solar plants are now less expensive than coal plants.
Rest of the article: https://www.chinadialogue.net/article/s ... wer-surges
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Re: Cambodia to Boost Clean Energy Use — But Coal Plants Planned Too

Post by SternAAlbifrons »

"Wind and solar are incredibly expensive, extremely intermittent and diffuse, not that "clean" in terms of carbon footprint, and are absolutely wrong for Cambodia. Cambodia needs to utilize some form of the hydrocarbon molecule. Unless you want to build a nuke, there is no match for the cheap, consistent, power it provides."
"Solar is okay for a niche market of people who only need to use minimal electricity at night"

I don't want to embarrass anybody, so no names to to the quotes.
Just posted it here underneath the news report which points to a very different story.
And same story is happening all over the world on an industrial scale.

What is it that makes some people so unwilling to acknowledge the realities of renewables.
Brain washed by the coal and oil industries?
Luddites who can not get their heads around technology changes?
or those who make it is crucial part of their "right wing" agenda - simply because the progressives are for it.

Not to mention the straight out ignoring or denial of CO2 driven climate change as any kind of problem.
Hard to think of any other term than
Spoiler:
science deniers
:stir: :D
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Re: Cambodia to Boost Clean Energy Use — But Coal Plants Planned Too

Post by j57 »

Mark Stein just had 3 experts in climate on his program and their science was far different from goreheads.
Climate change is a reality...But, to think man is responsible for more than a tiny fraction of it is absurd.
The increase in need for more energy is because there are more people than ever and they are rising up from poverty to middle class levels and able to afford energy using items.
If ocean levels are rising...why did obama just spend 18 million on ocean front property?
I grew up in a climate change area and experienced droughts, blizzards, floods, tornadoes, heat waves, cold waves, ice storms, hail storms, straight line winds and perfect days. We called it the weather.
welcome to Kansas.
it can be 85F and the wind from the south one minute and then 30F and dropping and the wind from the north.
As billions of Asians, including Cambodians, rise above starvation levels...They are going to want affordable and reliable energy.
wind and solar ain't going to cut it.
Where are you getting the minerals needed for these batteries?
I hope science comes up with something.
Fossil fuel is where it is at ..for now.
Nuclear freaks a lot of people out.
I want someone to explain to me how all these tourists are going to get around?
I think Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is a viable option for a lot of you.
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Re: Cambodia to Boost Clean Energy Use — But Coal Plants Planned Too

Post by Bitte_Kein_Lexus »

I saw the aforementioned solar farm a few weeks ago. It's quite massive and I was wondering what its capacity was. Definitely a step in the right direction, especially given the amount of sun this country gets. A few people I know in the industry say even taking into account the rainy season averages, Cambodia scores extremely high in world-average terms. Big potential. ISPP installed a ton on their rooftops a few years ago and it has helped cut their electricity costs down nicely from what I hear.
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Re: Cambodia to Boost Clean Energy Use — But Coal Plants Planned Too

Post by Queef »

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote: Fri Dec 06, 2019 10:35 am I saw the aforementioned solar farm a few weeks ago. It's quite massive and I was wondering what its capacity was. Definitely a step in the right direction, especially given the amount of sun this country gets. A few people I know in the industry say even taking into account the rainy season averages, Cambodia scores extremely high in world-average terms. Big potential. ISPP installed a ton on their rooftops a few years ago and it has helped cut their electricity costs down nicely from what I hear.
Phase 1 is 60MW. Phase 2 40MW. Irradiation in Cambodia is really good for solar. Huge potential.
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Re: Cambodia to Boost Clean Energy Use — But Coal Plants Planned Too

Post by SternAAlbifrons »

Remember those little things called computers - from way back about 30 years ago
or should i say, whopping great huge things with tiny little power.
And see how far they have progressed.
And smartphones? which didn't exist two decades ago.

So we know for sure that renewable technology is going to explode our tiny little minds, and our old fashion ways of behaving.
So quickly.
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Re: Cambodia to Boost Clean Energy Use — But Coal Plants Planned Too

Post by Arget »

As I am an old fart (a boomer even) I thought I would jot down a couple of things that I was thinking about last night while watching some news stuff on climate change.

I have to agree that what is called climate change is what was commonly called "the weather" previously. Yes we had droughts and floods and fires etc.
In Australia there are more fires that cause devastation to houses but consider that where a lot of these houses were destroyed was vacant land before.
If we bow to those who want to cut out use on fossil fuel production then we will go back to travelling the world without aircraft and any vehicles.
Don't interrupt with "we will use electric cars" crap as there will be no electricity.

To build your wind farms you need to manufacture the parts (lets see now, how do we get the metal for the structures) we need to transport them to the sites and get those big propela thingys up top.
Cannot use cranes, helicopters to get them there as they use fossil fuels.
Same deal with solar as these have to be manufactured . they are not made from natural fibres.

How do you produce the structures for transporting electricity across countries? They are made from steel that is mined and transported and produced using fossil fuels, the wires used in electrical components and even in your home is copper, damn this is also a product that requires mining , smelting and transport. We will not even mention that it needs to have insulation that is a petroleum byproduct (??)

If and when some bright spark invents a way to do something amazing to manufacture some of these bits, how will they benefit anyone else as there will be no transport.
The special people now tell us that cows emit too much methane so using farting bullocks as in the wagons of pre motorised vehicles will be an environmental catastrophe on its own.

Now to the crux.

If i stop using plastic and I set up solar panels for my home and I have a vegan (yuck) lifestyle what fucking difference will I make unless everyone does the same. If everyone in the rest of the world did this except one country then they would rule the world.
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Re: Cambodia to Boost Clean Energy Use — But Coal Plants Planned Too

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The new solar power units are in the news, but the number of coal-fired power constructions in Cambodia are increasing, backed by Chinese money. Many of them are located in Preah Sihanouk province, where the demand for electricity has developed dramatically over the past two years in line with Chinese investments in the province

December 19, 2019
Coal-fired power plant breaks ground

Construction of two 350-megawatt coal-fired power units broke ground yesterday. The power generated is scheduled to be linked to the national grid in 2022.

CIIDC Erdos Hongjun Electric Power invested about $1.2 billion in the plant in Preah Sihanouk province’s Stung Hav district.

It is a joint venture between CIIDG Erdos Hongjun Electric Power and local firm Cambodia International Investment Development Group Co Ltd.

As planned, a 350-MW coal-fired power plant will start to generate power to the national grid in 2022. The other is scheduled to go online in 2023, said Victor Jona, director-general of energy at the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

The investment followed marathon talks over prices of power from the plant to Cambodia’s Electricity Authority (EDC), Mr Jona said.

“The investment is important in generating power to the grid because the government wants to increase the power generated from all sources,” Mr Jona said.

The agreed price of power sold to the EDC is $0.0743 per kilowatt-hour, according to Mr Jona.

CIIDG Erdos Hongjun Electric Power operates three 135-MW coal-fired power plants in Preah Sihanouk province, generating power to the grid of 405 MW.

According to Mr Jona, Royal Group, Cambodia’s largest conglomerate, was granted permission to conduct a feasibility study on a 700-MW coal-fired power plant in Preah Sihanouk province.

Cambodia currently produces 505 MW from two coal-fired power plants.

100 MW comes from CEL I while the rest is generated by CIIDG Erdos Hongjun Electric Power, which has three 135-MW coal-fired generating units in Preah Sihanouk.

Han Seng Coal Mine is now building a 200-MW coal-fired plant in Oddar Meanchey province.

The 135-MW coal-fired power plant, called CEL II, is scheduled to go online this month.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50671475/c ... ks-ground/
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