Are global coal price hikes affecting local power supply capacity? As the new corona epidemic subsides, the world economy shows signs of recovery, and the global supply chain is strained. These factors have pushed global coal prices to record highs. Cambodia’s current sources of power supply are more diversified, including coal-fired power generation, hydropower generation, solar power and bioenergy power generation, imports from Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand, and black oil power generation.
According to U.S. Energy Information, coal can be divided into four main types or grades, namely Anthracite, Bituminous, Sub-Bituminous, and Lignite. The classification and grade depend on the type and amount of carbon the coal contains, and the thermal energy the coal can produce. Anthracite contains 86% to 97% carbon, and it generally has the highest heating value of all coal grades; followed by bituminous coal, which contains 45% to 86% carbon; again, sub-bituminous coal, which usually contains 35% to 45% carbon; and finally It is lignite, which contains 25% to 35% carbon.
Although Cambodia’s electricity price still ranks first in Southeast Asia, Cambodia has a late-mover advantage in the construction of the power industry, because Cambodia’s power construction plan will comprehensively adjust its direction, focusing on the development of pollution-free green energy power generation. At the same time, the government maintains the stability of domestic electricity through resource adjustment.
Cambodia’s current coal-fired power generation accounts for only 16.7% of the total energy. Hydropower accounted for 42.5%, solar and bioenergy power generation accounted for 9.85%, electricity imported from neighboring countries such as Laos, Vietnam, Thailand accounted for 14.4%, and black oil power generation accounted for 16%. Coal imported into Cambodia can supply 640 megawatts of electricity for coal-fired power plants. Cambodia’s total coal imports in 2020 were 2.6 million tonnes, and 1.5 million tonnes were imported in the first nine months of 2021.
At the same time, the type of coal imported by Cambodia is bituminous coal, and the energy is between 5,000 kcal and 6,900 kcal per kilogram. But there are also coal mines in Oddo Meanchey province in Cambodia, the type is lignite, and the energy is 3430 kcal to 4050 kcal per kilogram. The government has decided to build a coal plant in Oddo Meanchey province.
In Cambodia we have a lot of energy, there is coal and renewable energy, there is hydropower solar and biopower, imported energy, and oil energy, so when the price of coal rises, we know how to adjust the energy to use, not let it affect the overall price. By reducing the use of coal-fired power generation and using energy that costs less than coal, our electricity supply is still stable in the first, and the electricity tariffs formulated and planned by the second government are still unaffected and can still be implemented.
It is understood that Cambodian power plants buy coal from other countries through open bidding. The price of coal in January 2021 was $80 a ton, but by October it rose to $240 a ton, before falling back slightly to $150 a ton in November. The coal is usually imported from Indonesia, but sometimes from Australia, Vietnam or China depending on market conditions. The government will also build another coal-fired power plant with an estimated power of 265 megawatts and use lignite as fuel. According to research, Cambodia has as much as 78 million tons of lignite reserves, which can be used for about 30 years.
