World Bank-ESMAP SME Program

World Bank - ESMAP Program

Cambodian SMEs in Decentralize Energy Services

Energizing the rural economy

Efficient and affordable energy services are essential to improving the growth and productivity of the rural economy and people lives. Most households living in rural Cambodia do not have electricity supplies and the cost of electricity when it is supplied is substantive greater than in urban areas. Also the cost of fuel for cooking is a major drain on family income. Thirty percent of household rural household expenditure of the poor is for energy with cooking comprising 70% of that cost.

The introduction of technological innovation can substantially improve rural energy services both by lowering the costs and making them available in remote areas of the country. The introduction of 8 technologies could make a major contribution to improving rural energy services:

Improved Cookstove Technology for household cooking, small scale industries and institutions;
Biomass gasification for SMEs;
Biomass gasification for village electrification;
LED lanterns;
Biodigester Private Sector Development;
Efficient charcoal production combined with community woodlots;
Biodiesel made from energy crops like Jatropha;
Efficient Battery Charging.

Their introduction will require a major planning effort to establish business structures for their introduction into the retarded rural economy. SMEs are lacking in remote areas and even in more developed areas there is little supporting service structure to improve efficiency and business performance.

Energy use in rural areas is very inefficient and most energy use is of renewable resources particularly wood. Improved technologies could reduce the impact on the environment of wood collection. The introduction of efficient cookstoves and charcoal production could reduce the demand for fuelwood of households and small scale industries by over 40% and lower the energy cost.

The technologies listed above could create revolving income streams in rural communities. Village electrification using biomass gasification is a prime example; it could reduce electricity prices by half, create jobs in villages in growing the fuelwood supplies for the gasifier and establish enterprises to run the village electricity utility.

The World Bank – ESMAP, Cambodian SMEs in Decentralized Energy Services Program identified technologies that will be introduced into the rural economy in pilot projects together with the businesses and financial structures to support the introduction of the technologies. National Programs will be specified on the basis of the results of the pilot projects to undertake broad scale introduction of the technologies into the rural economy. The World Bank will cooperate with other donors to provide capital and technical assistance support

Top