Abstract
This study investigates the feasibility of rice straw for energy production in Cambodia. The potential areas for a 10 MW biomass-fired power plant installation are estimated based on rice straw availability displayed in a graphic information system (GIS). The discounted cash flow (DCF) method on the profitability index (PI) was executed by Mathlab software, which was used to determine the period of the power plant profitability. The reduction of CO and CO2 emissions from the proposed rice straw biomass-fired power plant with 10 MW capacity was calculated and compared with the coal-fired power plant and open field burning. Prey Veng, Takeo, and Battambang are potential provinces that have an estimated rice straw source of 804,796 t/annum, 720,040 t/annum, and 603,273 t/annum, respectively. Within a 20-year project, the biomass-fired power plant can reach profitability between six and ten years with the operation of the rice-straw price of 20 USD/t to 40 USD/t. The total energy produced by these potential areas is 1251 GWh/annum, with a CO2 emission avoidance of 1.06 million t/annum compared to the coal-fired power plant operation. Simultaneously, the emission savings of the biomass-fired power plant compared to open-field burning are 0.61 million t/annum of CO2 and 0.02 million t/annum of CO in the study site. The findings are prospectively essential for further designing of a small-scale biomass-fired power plant in Cambodia.