Our friend James at the Alternative Energy Blog gives us a good example of the interconnection between leapfrogging and sustainability. Cambodia has the lowest level of electrification in Southeast Asia, with only 13 percent of rural citizens and 54 percent of urban residents with electricity. For a variety of geographic reasons, building a centralized power grid is an enormously expensive proposition. Instead, Cambodia is embarking on an ambitious plan to bring electricity to 100% of its rural population by 2020 by using a decentralized grid -- and by relying on micro- and pico-hydroelectricity, biomass and solar photovoltaics.
The goals are outlined in the draft Cambodian Renewable Energy Action Plan (REAP). While the plan is not yet complete, some details are available at the Cambodia Renewable Energy & Rural Electrification website. REAP targets for the next five years include:
Energy Probe Research Foundation, a Canadian environmental group, undertook a detailed analysis (free subscription required) of Cambodia's renewable plans late last year. REAP's key conclusions read like an energy leapfrog checklist:
That Cambodia should pursue a decentralized energy grid is not altogether surprising. Beyond the logistical reasons, the country is currently served by 600 to 1,000 private independent energy providers with diesel generators, which supply power to 120,000 households.
Funding for REAP comes from a variety of sources; the recent inclusion of the Japan International Cooperation Agency seems to be what has allowed the plan to move from 70% electrification by 2030 (in the Probe analysis) to 100% by 2020 (the current headlines).
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