*Since the date of this news item’s publication, the organization ‘The International REC Standard Foundation’ has changed to ‘The International Tracking Standard Foundation: Founder of I-REC (I-TRACK Foundation).’

The International REC Standard Foundation has approved Cambodia and Ecuador for I-REC for electricity issuance. The country reports for Cambodia can be found here.

Approved I-REC(E) Issuers

GCC has been approved as I-REC(E) Issuer in Cambodia until a suitable local organization has been identified. GCC is already responsible for the issuance of I-REC(E) in many I-REC countries around the world.

Cambodia

Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia. Prior to the pandemic, Cambodia was one of the fastest-growing economies in Southeast Asia: from 2010 to 2019, its economy expanded at an average annual rate of 7%. The introduction of a credible EAC system has been cited by international brands with operations in Cambodia as an essential step for promoting further foreign direct investment into the economy.

Cambodia is a member of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), But, domestically, not all of the country enjoys grid connectivity: areas around the capital, Phnom Penh, as well as border areas with Vietnam are connected, while rural portions of the country are often not covered by national grid infrastructure.  However, end-users in Cambodia have become increasingly vocal about clean energy demand, indicating that access to clean power may impact decisions on where to establish operations and supply contracts. And Cambodia has several national policy and regulation frameworks governing work related to climate change response such as promoting the use of low-carbon technologies and use of renewable energy for electricity generation.

While Cambodia does not presently permit direct or virtual PPAs between IPPs and corporate off-takers, USAID and other development partners have expressed preliminary interest in supporting the development of such mechanisms in Cambodia. Considering that, the I-REC Standard is looking forward to future I-REC(E) market developments in Cambodia.