KOH KONG, Cambodia, Dec 1 (NNN-AKP) – The project of the Chinese-invested Cambodia Upper Tatay Hydropower Station, will increase the reliable source of clean energy in Cambodia, contributing further to socioeconomic development and poverty reduction, Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Manet, said yesterday.
With a designed capacity of 150 megawatts (MWs), the project is expected to generate 527 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, when it is fully operational.
Hun Manet said, the project, invested by the China National Heavy Machinery Corporation (CHMC), is a concessional contract of a 39-year build-operate-transfer (BOT), of which, four years for construction and 35 years for operations.
“I would like to thank the Chinese enterprises for investing in hydropower plants, a source of clean energy, in Cambodia,” he said, in a speech during the river closing ceremony for the construction of the hydropower station in Thmar Baing district.
The prime minister said, energy security is essential to ensuring sustainable socioeconomic development and poverty reduction, adding that, the country encouraged investment in hydropower, solar power, and wind farm projects.
“Cambodia aims to lift its share of clean energy generation capacity to 70 percent by 2030, from the current 62 percent,” he added.
Cambodian Minister of Mines and Energy, Keo Rattanak, said that, the construction of the Cambodia Upper Tatay Hydropower Station started in Dec, 2022 and to date, 31.5 percent of the whole project has been completed.
He said that the company has so far completed the construction of a road leading to the construction site, a bridge, an administration building and other necessary infrastructure.
Rattanak said, the Cambodia Upper Tatay Hydropower Station was the second project developed by the CHMC, after the company invested in the development of a 246-MW Cambodia Tatay Hydropower Station here in 2010, in a 42-year BOT mode. The first project was put into operation in 2015, and has generated 858 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.
Local villagers yesterday, voiced their full support for the new dam project, saying that, it would bring development and reliable electricity to their remote villages.
China is the largest investor in building hydroelectric plants in Cambodia. According to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, seven Chinese-built hydroelectric dams in the kingdom, with a total capacity of 1,328 MWs, have been put into operation, so far.– NNN-AKP