In 2024, Cambodia relied on fossil fuels for about 43% of its electricity consumption, with coal alone accounting for 41%. Low-carbon electricity supplied almost 30%, mainly hydropower at about 25%, alongside solar at 5%. Net imports provided the remaining 27%, or slightly more than a quarter. Because the sources of those imports are not specified, they cannot be classified as either clean or fossil electricity from these data. Expanding domestic clean electricity would help reduce reliance on coal and its contributions to climate change and air pollution.

Is Electricity Growing in Cambodia?

Electricity consumption is growing in Cambodia: it reached a record 1,217 kWh per person in 2024, up 134 kWh, or about 12%, from the previous record in 2023. That is encouraging progress toward supplying growing electricity needs. However, low-carbon generation has not kept pace with its earlier peak: at 362 kWh per person, it remained 39 kWh, or almost 10%, below the record of 401 kWh set in 2022. This shortfall is concerning, highlighting the need for faster clean electricity growth to support electrification and emerging demand, including from AI.

Suggestions

Cambodia can build on its existing hydropower base by accelerating solar deployment and considering nuclear power as a longer-term source of dependable low-carbon electricity. Pakistan offers a useful regional example, generating about 24% of its electricity from solar and 13% from nuclear, while Sri Lanka generates 15% from solar. These examples point toward substantial room for Cambodia to increase solar beyond its current 5%, supported by grid investment and electricity storage. For nuclear development, Cambodia could learn from South Korea, where nuclear supplies a quarter of electricity, and France, where it supplies about two-thirds, particularly in workforce training, regulation and long-term planning. Together, solar and nuclear could support a much larger clean electricity supply.

History

Cambodia’s low-carbon electricity growth since 2012 has been driven primarily by hydropower. Annual hydro increases between 2012 and 2017 ranged from 0.1 to 0.8 TWh, followed by a particularly strong 2 TWh increase in 2018. Hydro output then fell by 0.5 TWh in 2019 and 0.2 TWh in 2020, before rebounding by 1.2 TWh in 2021 and 0.9 TWh in 2022; another 0.8 TWh decline followed in 2023. Solar has provided a steadier positive contribution, increasing every year shown from 2019 through 2024, with annual gains of 0.1–0.3 TWh adding up to 1.1 TWh. The reported biofuel changes were zero in 2019 and 2022. Solar’s continued expansion is encouraging, and accelerating it alongside other clean electricity investment would help restore stronger low-carbon growth.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade