en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $63.44 million financing package to build a 250 MW/500 MWh battery energy storage system at a substation in Takeo province, southern Cambodia.

The system will store surplus renewable energy generation and supply electricity to the grid during peak hours to manage peak loads and stabilize grid fluctuations, thereby meeting the growing electricity demand from industrial zones, agricultural processing facilities, and urban areas in the region.

The ADB stated that the project will also support cross-border electricity trading and grid interconnection between Cambodia and Vietnam, contributing to the ASEAN Power Grid initiative's goal of achieving full regional grid integration by 2045.

The financing package specifically includes: a $40 million concessional loan and a $5 million grant from the ADB through the Asian Development Fund, and $18.44 million jointly provided by the Green Climate Fund and the United Kingdom through the ASEAN Catalytic Green Finance Facility.

The project aims to support Cambodia's target of achieving 70% renewable energy in its total installed capacity by 2030. The ADB estimates that the energy storage system, once operational, can avoid up to 27,700 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually. The project will also enhance the capacity of the state-owned utility Electricité du Cambodge in managing advanced energy systems and assist Cambodia in developing regulations related to battery energy storage.

The ADB noted that Cambodia's power sector currently relies heavily on imported fuel for electricity generation, exposing it to risks from global energy price fluctuations and supply disruptions.

The country's utility-scale solar photovoltaic installed capacity has already exceeded the government's targets for 2030 and 2035, highlighting the urgency of investing in energy storage to keep pace with renewable energy construction and avoid curtailment caused by generation consistently exceeding grid flexibility.