Economy wide intensive energy efficiency improvement is needed

Economy wide intensive energy efficiency improvement is needed to achieve the energy intensity reduction target.

Achievement of the energy efficiency target is considered to be the second biggest challenge for Lao PDR. Energy efficiency has been going in the wrong direction for Lao PDR since 2011 and is therefore, poses a greater risk of failing to achieve this target. Even with all possible measures, the country is unlikely to attend to its required target and therefore, a revised target has been proposed in alignment with the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency.  With the contraction of GDP growth due to the impact of COVID-19, this is likely to worsen in the future, as energy intensity is measured as the amount of energy per unit of GDP. In this regard, the roadmap suggests that Lao PDR should at least aim for the global improvement rate by setting the target of 4.0 MJ/USD. Even this would require an intensive effort by rolling out energy efficiency measures across all sectors, as has been suggested in the high energy efficiency scenario.