The government of Cambodia released a statement requesting all ministries and public institutions to participate in a national program on electricity saving consumption in 2008.  most recommendations were aimed at convincing users to turn off equipment when not being used or under particular circumstances (e.g. air conditioners to be turned off when temperatures are below 25 °C). This program was largely focused on raising awareness on EE&C and operated on a voluntary basis and was the first official intervention on EE&C matters in the country

In 2013, the National Policy, Strategy and Action Plan on Energy Efficiency of Cambodia was established with specific activities and investment plans as well as budget estimation for five sectors which are industry, buildings, rural electricity generation and distribution, biomass resources, and end user products. The main purpose of the policy is to reduce energy consumption as an effort to provide reliable and affordable energy services to all economic sectors. To achieve targets in the plan relating to building industry, various strategic measures and action have been formulated, such as energy efficiency building code, Energy Manager Certification program, green standard for public buildings, and increasing awareness on building energy efficiency for the public and building professionals.

In 2016, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) of Cambodia published the first official energy statistics in Cambodia to contribute to the formulation of appropriate energy policies related to energy efficiency and building energy code, and green building rating tool for the ministry. The energy statistics identifies and explores areas for energy efficiency improvements such as industries and equipment and buildings that cover benchmarking of EE of buildings, strategies to develop EE in Cambodia among others. The energy statistics also presents and forecasts the primary energy supply, final energy consumption by sector and energy balance until year 2035 among other

Potentials reduction on energy consumption which have been defined in the national energy policy on energy savings, as following:

• Industry: saving potential up to 20% in garment factories and 70% in ice factories, depending mainly on changes in behavior and on the replacement of inefficient equipment.
• Rural Electrification Energy: saving potential up to 80%, by reduction in the very large generation and distribution losses.
• Replacement of biomass: saving potential up to 30-50%, through the introduction of improved cook stoves and more efficient charcoal kilns and char briquettes.
• End user product in the residential sector: saving potential of up to 50% was assumed according to international experiences by introducing energy efficiency labeling schemes for household appliances.

In addition to this, Cambodia’s distribution loses was nearly at 14% in 2015[2], which is far above than world average (8.16%) and ASEAN average (10%) The government has agreed that making the transmission grid more efficient would transform Cambodia’s ability providing reliable and affordable energy to the people with potentially huge cost savings.

The potential monetary value of the savings depends on the future structure of the energy consumption in each sector, on the development of the world market prices of imported petroleum products and on the value to be attached to biomass fuels. Based on IEA report, considering actual crude oil price, the very first estimate results in annual savings of approximately USD 319 Million in the year 2035.

[2] Electricity Authority of Cambodia

Energy saving activities and investments in Cambodia are mostly coming from International supports such as development agencies and development bank. The energy saving focuses on power generation, rural electrification, and transmission grid expansion sectors. Supply-side energy efficiency improvements are normally part of transmission line strengthening and expansion projects. However, according to Asian Development Bank about 80% of Cambodians live in the rural areas, where electricity coverage is sparse.

Based on the Cambodia National Policy, the Strategy and Action Plan on Energy Efficiency in Cambodia, with the assistances on funding and implementation by international entities, the specific activities and investment plans for five sectors namely, industry, buildings, rural, biomass, and end user have been defined in Table 1 below:

Strategy and Action Plan on Energy Efficiency in Cambodia

In addition, as reported by ERIA on sectorial analysis of the energy consumption in Cambodia that more than half of savings (about 680 ktoe) will be biomass based, about 330 ktoe are electricity savings generated from heavy fuel oil, and 180 ktoe are diesel savings.