Cambodia's electricity sector in the context of regional electricity market integration

Cambodia has achieved strikingly high rates of economic growth over the past ten years; the real gross domestic product (GDP) grew on average 8.0 % per annum. This robust growth has stimulated substantially-increasing demands for electricity. With a constrained supply-side, Cambodia faces critical challenges in satisfying this greater demand. In this regard, regional electricity market integration serves as a useful tool for Cambodia to optimize benefits enhancing the domestic electricity sector and to further regional energy cooperation. Despite remarkable improvement in the energy sector, the electrification rate in Cambodia remains low. The majority of the population is not connected to electric power networks. Moreover, electricity cost remains one of the highest in the region and the world. Investment in the electricity sector represents a small proportion of the total investment needed for electricity sector development.