Cambodia to buy 12,000 home-based solar PV systems

Friday, July 16 2010
Lee Hong Liang
RechargeNews.com

Cambodia is playing catch-up on a 2007-borne plan to install off-grid solar photovoltaic (PV) system in rural areas as the government now plans to acquire 12,000 systems in August.

A rural electrification plan received funding support from the World Bank three years ago to spread clean and sustainable power to village households in remote areas that are not connected to the national grid.

To date, the Cambodian government has only managed to test and install the home-based solar PV system on a very small scale basis since 2007.

“The home-based solar system can generate about 40 watt peak (Wp) of electricity for each household,” says Toch Sovanna, director of the energy technique department at Cambodia’s ministry of industry, mines and energy.

“We plan to bring in 12,000 solar systems next month and have invited vendors to submit their bids,” Sovanna tells Recharge.

He adds that the vendors may be either foreign or local firms.

The cost of each solar PV system could between $300-400.

Cambodia's goal is to provide electricity from different forms of renewable energy sources such as biomass, mini-hydro and solar to all rural households by 2020.

Neighbouring Laos has had more success in its 2007 rural electrification plan which received the same support from the World Bank. The components of the solar PV systems, however, have not been functioning properly.

The Southeast Asian country has installed about 2,000 systems in rural households and plans to increase that figure to 100,000 by 2020.

Other Asian nations such as Bangladesh and Bhutan are also looking to install more of such cost-effective home-based solar PV systems to bring electricity to households situated in inaccessible areas.

It's a World Bank grant for Cambodia ... but the library is named after Hun Xen instead

Rear view of the library

Work starts on Pyle Architects’ Cambodia library

22 April, 2010
By Anna Winston
BDonline.co.uk

Construction work is underway on Pyle Architects’ £1.3 million library for the Royal University of Phnom Penh.

The 2,800sq m Hun Sen library extension, named after Cambodia’s prime minister, has been developed by the London practice’s office in Phnom Penh headed by practice founder Geoff Pyle.

The extension will more than double the size of the existing library building, which was built in the early 1990s, and create a new entrance.

Large double-glazed openings in the building will create spaces with clear views of the landscape while withstanding Cambodia’s seasonal weather extremes.

Areas of louvres provide permanent natural ventilation, and the north and south elevations feature heavy shading to deal with strong solar gain.

Funding for the scheme has been provided by a grant from the World Bank as part of the Cambodia Education Sector Support Project.

But the grant does not cover the building’s operating costs, so it has been designed to require minimal electrical services, with ramps replacing lifts and selective air conditioning. Air from the undercroft of the building will be used to help cool internal spaces.

It is due for completion in early 2011.

Pyle has also set up an organisation with local students and architects to provide tours of Cambodia’s 1960s architecture. For more information visit http://www.ka-tours.org/

Cambodia: Program Inspires Students to Dream Big

1/11/2010
Source: World Bank

Meas Sokhunthea, a shy 8th grade student at Preah An Kosa secondary school in Siem Reap town, has wanted to be a teacher since she was a little girl. “With the scholarship that I’ve been given and my mom’s strong support for my studies, I believe I will reach my goal,” she said.

Sokhunthea is one of 36,000 lower-secondary and primary students who received scholarships through a component of the Education Sector Support Project (ESSP), which is financed by the World Bank in Cambodia. Under the program, students will receive scholarships ranging from US$45 to US$60 per year to support their study. Sokhunthea got US$45, which she used to buy her uniform, books, pen and her school bag. Sokhunthea thanks the program because it helps to reduce her mother’s financial burden of buying her school materials.

Her schoolmate, Cheng Sopheap, who received US$60, said the money is helping him to concentrate on his studies. He said it makes him less worried about finding money to buy school materials. Sopheap has three brothers and a sister; all of them are in school. “If there is no support, I won’t be here because my parents are very poor,” he said.

In a classroom at Borkeo secondary school in Borkeo district, around 25 km from Ratanakiri provincial town, another 9th grade scholarship recipient, Pov Theary, has been given a scholarship for grades 7, 8 and 9. Each school year she gets $60. Like most of other scholarship students, Theary uses the scholarship money to buy books, uniforms, and a bicycle, and the rest she gives to her mom for buying food for the family.

Theary had been asked by her mom to quit school when she finished grade 6 because her family could not support her continuing schooling.

WB aids Cambodian poverty reduction

HANOI, Jan. 15 (PNA/VNA) -- The Cambodian government signed two grant agreements on Jan. 14, worth a total of 72.1 million USD with the World Bank and other development partners to improve the lives of its people and to reduce poverty.

The first agreement for 20 million USD supports the Demand for Good Governance Project (DFGG), which aims at improving the government's accountability and responsiveness to the needs of the public, said a press release from the WB.

The second agreement, worth 52.1 million USD, provides additional resources to the Second Health Sector Support Program (HSSP2), which is designed to help the government improve the health of the nation’s underprivileged mothers and children, it added.

The grants will provide crucial support to the Government of Cambodia's efforts to reduce poverty and ensure that the people of Cambodia enjoy secure and sustainable livelihoods, WB said.

"The grant agreements that we sign today will contribute towards the fourth pillar of Cambodia's Rectangular Strategy," Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Keat Chhon was quoted by Xinhua News Agency as saying.

Cambodia receives $84.7 million grant from World Bank, aid donors

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 14 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Cambodia received $84.7 million in aid pledges Wednesday from the World Bank and other donors for three development projects aimed at reducing poverty and improving Cambodians' livelihood.

In a press statement, the World Bank said $52.1 million is earmarked for improving the health of underprivileged mothers and children, $20 million for projects aimed at improving the government's accountability and responsiveness to public needs, and $12.6 million for removing trade barriers and improving the standard of Cambodian exports.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Keat Chhon pledged the Cambodian government will "utilize these grants in an efficient, accountable and transparent manner."

World Bank Country Director Annette Dixon said she hopes the grants will give crucial support to the Cambodian government's efforts to reduce poverty and ensure Cambodians enjoy secure and sustainable livelihoods.

Apart from the World Bank, other donors that contributed to the grants include Britain, Australia, Denmark, the European Commission and the U.N. Industrial Development Organization.