Renewable Energy for Rural Electrification towards Sustainable Development in Cambodia

Cambodia has considerably expended its electrics supply during late few decades. However, only twelve percent of total population has accessed to power grid while about ninety one percent of people living in rural area still lack of grid-based electricity service; in that, power generation serving in rural area remains under demands and population growth. With the high cost of grid-line service generated by gasoline, diesel or crude oil generators, renewable energy system starts to play a significant role for reducing electricity gap between demand and supply for remote communities of this country. Off-grid renewable energy systems have competitively shown the reliability and comparability in providing electricity service to rural households. The contribution of electricity supply systems bring the substantial public and economics advantages to rural inhabitants including power for lighting, communication media, small electric motors, and provision of education and health care centers, etc. That is, biomass, photovoltaic and hydropower prove completely an environmental sustainability approaches for sustaining cost-effective rural development.