Photovoltaics Battery charging in Cambodia Angkor Wat is the well-known symbol of ancient Cambodia. Photos (5): Antje Klauß-Vorreiter Solar instead of diesel Cambodia is still struggling to recover from the devastations by the Khmer Rouge. Where local grids are isolated and unstable, charging stations offer the only reliable access to electricity. Solar could become a true alternative to diesel generators for this country, which belongs to the 10 poorest in the world. If one thinks of Cambodia the first things coming to mind are Angkor Wat and the Khmer Rouge two very important elements in the history of the country. Angkor Wat is part of the cultural heritage, of which the Cambodians are very proud, while the terror regime of the Khmer Rouge was the darkest phase in the history of the country. The country still struggles, following the targeted killing of the intelligencia of the country during the Pol Pot Regime from 1975 to 1979. Cambodia, which used to be known as the Switzerland of South-East Asia, is now among the 10 poorest countries in the world. Today, one in three Cambodians live on less than US$ 0.5 a day, 27 % of the population older than 15 is illiterate and even 20 % of the children do not go to primary school. The average age is 20.6 years, with more than 50 % of the population younger than 25. And this young generation, which is not influenced by the Khmer Rouge, but supported by the older Khmers and educated in foreign countries, may bring the country back to sustainable development. The Kingdom of Cambodia, a member country of the Association of South East Asian Nations, with an area of 181,035 square kilometres and a population of 14.5 million, is situated in the Lower Mekong region. Its neighbouring countries are Thailand to the west, Vietnam to the east and Laos to the north. In Cambodia 84 % of the population lives in rural areas where many public services are not available, especially electricity. 146
Electricity supply in Cambodia The Pol Pot Regime of the Khmer Rouge did not even spare the electric power infrastructure from destruction. Until now the government has not been able to build up a national grid with a stable electricity supply to the Cambodian population. The country s electricity supply consists of 24 isolated grids centred in major cities, provincial and small towns, with the exception of the electricity supply system of Kampong Speu, which has been connected to the Phnom Penh system through a 115 kv single circuit transmission line since 2002. The overall annual electricity consumption was 1,349 GWh in 2007. Taking the population of Cambodia as being 13.4 million, the per capita consumption of electricity supplied by licensees comes to 100.68 kwh per year during 2007. But the electricity is not actually consumed by the 13.4 million Cambodians, but only by those 16.41 % of the households which have access to electricity. 73 % of those households alone are situated in Phnom Penh and adjacent areas, supplied by the largest electric power grid in the country. The rest of the electricity supplied by the licensees was consumed in the border zones through supplies from neighbouring countries (10.48 %), other provincial towns (14.37 %) and other zones (1.74 %). 96 % of the Cambodian electricity is generated from diesel (1,294.4 GWh). The two EDC hydropower plants (49.7 GWh), one at Kirirom connected to the Phnom Penh power system, and the other one at Ratanakiri connected to the Ratanakiri power system, produce 3.6 % and the 3 biomass gasifiers (5.3 GWh) in Battambang and Phnom Penh produce the remaining 0.4 %. 84.58 % of the electricity is sent out by independent power producers, 12.74 % by EDC and the remaining 2.68 % by consolidated licensees. Due to the present system and the strong reliance on diesel, the electricity prices in Cambodia are the highest in the region, at about US$ 0.25 in Phnom Penh and up to US$ 1.0 in the provinces. The hybrid 50 kw PV and 35 kw el biogas system in Sihanoukville Province is not operational anymore as it was not accepted by the people.
Photovoltaics Battery charging in Cambodia This Cambodian solar tracking system is operated manually. Area of service Use and potential of renewable energy in Cambodia Cambodia has a very large potential for renewable energies, especially for solar, wind and hydropower. The average sunshine duration per day is 6 to 9 hours, giving an average of 5 kwh/day. Nevertheless, the total installed capacity is only around 3,000 kw, mainly installed as solar home systems with 15, 20 or 40 W. The southern part of the great lake Tonle Sap, the mountainous districts in the southwest and the coastal regions, such as Sihanoukville, Kampot, Kep and Koh Kong have an annual average wind speed of 5 m/s or greater, but so far the wind energy potential is not being used. The hydropower potential is up to 10,000 MW, but currently only less than 20 MW are installed, consisting of the two plants mentioned above and some micro and pico hydropower plants. To overcome the present situation and to bring electricity to the Cambodians, the Royal Government of Cambodia has made rural electrification one of its Energy generated and purchased [GWh] Energy sold [GWh] Losses in % Number of customers Phnom Penh system 1,115,548 990,474 10.41 204,212 Areas served by Vietnam 78,868 70,361 10.79 24,601 Areas served by Thailand 76,487 70,973 7.21 18,907 Other provincial towns 224,469 193,904 7.21 87,146 Other areas and rural areas 31,358 23,410 25.34 80,275 Total 1,516,730 1,349,122 11.05 (average, whole country) 415,141 Table 1: Information on energy generated and purchased, energy sold, losses and number of consumers, classified by area of supply. Source: EAC, 2008 key energy sector priorities. The rural electrification strategy of the country sets the goal that by 2020 all villages should have access to electricity in at least one form or another, including access to mini-grid and off-grid electricity. The main tool to foster rural electrification is the Rural Electrification Fund (REF). REF targets the promotion of equitable rural electrification coverage by facilitating the population s access to electricity at affordable prices for economic, social and household uses, thus contributing to poverty reduction. REP also promotes and encourages the private sector to participate in providing the sustainable rural electrification services, in particular for the exploitation of the economic application of technically and commercially well-proven, new and renewable energy technologies. REF provides grants for rural electricity businesses for the implementation of new connections, for solar firms for the implementation of new solar home systems (US$ 100 per system) and for the development of new micro and pico hydropower plants. Theng Marith, from the Electricity Authority of Cambodia, says: Within the REF programme most of the applications come for distribution lines and not for renewable energy projects, and most of the licensed biomass projects have failed or delayed their start. He also says that if the decentralised renewable energy projects do not improve, the government will probably change its policy from decentralised to grid-connected projects. In general, the Energy Authority of Cambodia (EAC) has recognised the problem of a lack of affordable loans for big renewable energy projects, especially biomass projects. Typical Cambodian loans have interest rates of 10 to 25 % per year. Another problem is the high import tax the local companies 148
have to pay, even for the renewable energy equipment. 1 W of a PV module from Sharp Thailand in 2009 costs between US$ 3.5 to 4 in Cambodia, which is already less than in 2008, when it cost US$ 5 to 7 per W, but still much more than on the world market. And it is not only the price but also the quality of the available modules which sometimes make observers think that the Cambodian market only gets second quality goods. To overcome the present problems the country needs better import regulations for renewable energy equipment, quality controls and special loans for renewable energy projects. However, some technically and financially viable projects already exist, like the village grid of Anlong Tamey in the province Battambang, which is fed by a biomass gasifier (29 kw el ) and a network of solar battery charging stations in the province of Kampong Chhnang. Both projects were funded partly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and demonstrate how renewable energy projects could work in Cambodia. Both projects involve the private sector and the community as well, which is for Cambodia the most beneficial approach. Other technically and financially good projects failed as they did not consider involving these groups like a hybrid PV and biogas system (50 kw of PV combined with a 35 kw el biogas plant) which fed the village grid of Prey No in the province of Sihanoukville. Since the beginning of 2009 it has been out of operation as the villagers do not accept having to pay the increased electricity tariff, as they do not understand that the tariff has risen due to higher operation costs, even though the investment for the plant itself was donated. Solar battery charging with homemade tracking systems The Cambodian NGO LOCal CAPacity builder (LOCAP) has introduced four hybrid solar charging stations, a combination of PV modules with a back-up 28 VDC diesel generator, into the Kampong Chhnang province. The 1.56 kw PV systems each use 12 Sharp modules of 130 W installed on a locally developed tracking system. The modules are installed on a metal substructure, which is movable and connected to a pole, which elevates the modules to about 3 metre. Four cords hanging below the modules from the edges enable the operator to biaxially move this tracker manually. This system was developed by the LOCAP team within the framework of the UNDP project and increases the solar energy yield by about 30 %. But, even with this manual tracking system, the battery charging station cannot only be operated using solar energy, as on cloudy days and during the rainy season the energy from the solar system is not sufficient to charge the clients batteries. Then the diesel engine serves as a back-up for the solar system. Another homemade solution was developed by LOCAP for charge controlling. LOCAP does not use typical charge controllers but simple diodes. These diodes allow the electricity from the modules to the batteries but prevent a return flow of electricity. In this way the PV modules and their bypass diodes are protected and the batteries are duly charged. The four hybrid solar charging stations are the first solar charging stations in Cambodia. All the other approx. 2,500 battery charging stations are powered with diesel. A home-made charge controller and a diesel engine 149
Photovoltaics Battery charging in Cambodia Solar battery charging an alternative to diesel generators A community based approach LOCAP implemented the four battery charging stations in 2009 in cooperation with four local entrepreneurs (battery charging station operators) and the respective community. LOCAP as NGO did not want to compete with the local entrepreneurs and spoil their business, but to cooperate with them to offer clean cheap energy charging, says Kong Pharith, LOCAP President. The community was involved through the establishment of a village committee, which controls the operation of the battery charging station and is responsible for a savings fund fed by a share of the earnings from the solar battery charging. Within the framework of the LOCAP UNDP Solar Battery Charging Station Project, the four entrepreneurs, who already operated a battery charging station previously, got the described PV system donated. In return they are obliged to give 50 % of their daily earnings to the savings fund, whereby the other 50 % is their income. Additionally, they are obliged to sell their services 40 % cheaper than diesel battery charger operators. The money which goes into the savings fund is used equally for savings, maintenance of the PV system and the work of the committee supervised by LOCAP. The savings fund can be used for infrastructure measures in the community, but also secures the technical support from LOCAP to Electrical capacity Voltage Solar charging price in US$ Normal charg ing price in US$ 50 Ah 12 0.20 0.33 70 Ah 12 0.25 0.8 100 Ah 12 0.30 0.50 Table 2: Comparison of charging costs Source: EAC the community and the battery charging entrepreneurs even after the 12 months of the UNDP project phase. LOCAP has thus developed a participatory concept which brings a win-win situation to both the entrepreneurs and the communities, and additionally saves the environment. Cost structure The investment for each of the four PV systems was US$ 8,000, whereby the daily income is about US$ 8. The charging costs range from US$ 0.20 to 0.30 per battery as listed in table 2. The battery charging entrepreneurs have to document their business. Every charged battery, including the earnings for the service, is listed by the entrepreneur. Every day, representatives of the village committee check the daily earnings from battery charging, sign the documentation, and take 50 % of the daily earnings for the village fund. This daily control by more than one person secures a corruption-free reliable basis for the operation of the charg-ing station and the village fund, which avoids jealousy from the villagers not directly involved in the system, explains Kong Pharith. The described system only could be implemented by LOCAP because LOCAP accompanied the technical work with an extensive training programme, which enabled all stakeholders to participate properly. LOCAP will support the further operation of the charging stations for a minimum of three more years. Locally adapted concepts such as the one described are strongly needed to increase the use of renewable energies in Cambodia. Antje Klauß-Vorreiter 150