The Ministry of Mines and Power in Cambodia has revealed a doc outlining the ideas for allowing the usage of rooftop PV. The brand new coverage replaces the month-to-month capability charge for rooftop techniques, with a tariff calculated primarily based on an intricate system.
Rooftop PV installations are closely penalized in Cambodia, with photo voltaic arrays restricted to 50% of contracted load and charged a month-to-month capability charge. On the finish of April, the nation’s Ministry of Mines and Power revealed a doc, “Ideas for allowing the usage of rooftop solar energy in Cambodia” outlining new ideas to streamline the rooftop PV approval course of. . It proposes the substitute of precise capability prices with new tariffs and quotas for installations.
The modifications are a response to the attire business’s want to put in extra rooftop photo voltaic to “scale back the carbon footprint of products and merchandise,” as required by worldwide consumers, in keeping with the doc. The temporary repeatedly emphasised the federal government’s perception that utility-scale photo voltaic is the easiest way to scale back electrical energy costs for all customers and scale back grid instability points. grid. So it launched a “compensation tariff for variable power from rooftop photo voltaic” underneath the precept of “equality in electrical energy costs for all events.”
The brand new tariff is calculated in keeping with a three-part system. The primary is the value of electrical energy export from the nationwide grid, which shall be paid to the electrical energy distributor. The second is the value similar to grid losses, which shall be paid by the state-owned utility Electricite du Cambodge (EDC). The third is the tariff primarily based on the levelized value of electrical energy (LCOE) of every set up.
Requested if the brand new tariff is a optimistic improvement for photo voltaic in Cambodia, Natharoun Ngo Son, nation director of the Power Lab, gave pv journal an ambivalent response.
“Sure and no. Sure, it’s higher, than the capability prices, first there’s a 50% cap, then the capability cost is whether or not your system can be utilized or not,” stated Ngo Son. “Now, the tariff is paid primarily based on utilization, which is best. As well as, earlier than injecting extra electrical energy into the grid was not allowed and now it’s.
Nevertheless, PV system homeowners who inject energy into the grid can accomplish that at no cost, as web metering and web billing should not allowed in Cambodia. Ngo Son argues that grid constraints, amongst different points, imply that public utilities are unlikely to implement such regulatory accelerators quickly.
Ngo Son expressed issues concerning the different aspect of the brand new tariff, saying “no, it is not essentially higher. The massive query for all of us is: We have now a system, however what does it imply? What’s actual prices to be paid by the personal sector? No enterprise at the moment understands what the brand new laws imply by way of cents per kWh and due to this fact by way of payback interval. Some photo voltaic PV actors famous that this has slowed down their present operations and created uncertainty.
Though the coverage doc was signed and revealed on April 25, 2023, its official standing is at the moment unclear, because it has not but been revealed on the web site of the Ministry of Mines and Power. Ngo Son stated it’s anticipated to be revealed within the coming weeks after an official session with the personal sector will happen subsequent week. He famous that the implementation schedule has not been made public.
The doc additionally identifies quotas for rooftop PV installations, that are allotted on a first-come-first-served foundation per province, provincial capitals, and zones. Nevertheless, it doesn’t specify what number of quotas there are, how they’re outlined, or what the standing of present PV techniques shall be inside the scope of the quota scheme.
“Upon receiving a allow from the Electrical energy Authority Cambodia, the Applicant will start [installing] the solar energy on the rooftop inside three months from the date of notification,” the doc reads.
Regardless of leaving many questions unanswered, Ngo Son sees the brand new coverage as a optimistic improvement for photo voltaic in Cambodia. This April, the Cambodian authorities authorized 5 renewable power tasks totaling 520 MW. Of those, 4 are PV tasks, consisting of a 150 MW challenge in Pursat province, an 80 MW challenge in Prey Veng province, a 60 MW challenge in Kampong Chhnang province, and a 60 MW challenge in Svay Rieng province.
Cambodia revealed the “Energy Growth Plan 2022-2024” (PDP) in December 2022, which set a photo voltaic enhance goal of three,155 MW by 2040. In accordance with the most recent statistics of the Worldwide Renewable Power Company (IRENA), the Southeast Asian nation may have 456 MW of put in photo voltaic capability by the tip of 2022.
This content material is protected by copyright and is probably not reused. If you wish to cooperate with us and wish to reuse a few of our content material, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
