ANKARA

The Asian Development Bank will finance the development of 2 gigawatts (GW) of solar power projects in Cambodia, the bank announced on Tuesday.

The bank signed a mandate with Cambodia's national utility company Electricite du Cambodge (EDC), which will also help the country achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

Under this mandate, the bank will help EDC conduct a nationwide study on opportunities for additional solar power capacity in combination with a battery energy storage system to be implemented from this year through 2030.

The bank will also assist EDC in a 100-megawatt pilot project identified under the study. The pilot project is expected to mobilize up to $100 million of investments and serve as a model to replicate fast and efficient procurement of affordable renewable power in Cambodia.

Solar PV capacity is expected to exceed 3 GW in 2040.