Implementation accord inked for Koh Kong dam
Implementation accord inked for Koh Kong dam
Minister of Mines and Energy Suy Sem on December 8 signed implementation agreements for a 150MW hydropower dam and two 500kV transmission lines.
The 150MW Stung Tatai Leu dam will be built on the upper reaches of the Tatai River in Koh Kong province’s northern Thma Bang district by the Chinese state-owned China National Heavy Machinery Corp (CHMC) at a cost of $389,414,004.
This is according to the minutes of the October 23 Council of Ministers Plenary Session, which approved the dam and transmission lines.
State-run electricity supplier Electricite du Cambodge (EdC) and the Electricity Authority of Cambodia (EAC) also signed a power purchase agreement with CHMC on December 8.
According to the council, the project will be conducted under a Build-Operation-Transfer (BOT) 39-year concession scheme, including four years for construction and 35 years for business operation.
The dam will generate an average of 527 million kilowatt hours (kWh) per year and the electricity will be sold to EdC at $0.0792 per kWh.
SchneiTec Co Ltd will build the two 500kV transmission lines.
One will be 199.52km long and connect Phnom Penh to the Cambodia-Lao border. It will be built under a BOT 28-year concession scheme, including three years for construction and 25 years for business operation, and will be built at a cost of $330,466,584.
The other will be 107km long and link Battambang province with the Cambodian-Thai border. It will be built under the BOT model for a 39 year lease contract – four for construction and 35 for doing business – at a cost of $110,948,912.
Victor Jona, the director-general of the Ministry of Mines and Energy’s General Department of Energy, told The Post that the government decided in principle to allow the transmission lines to connect to the national grid, in anticipation of increased energy demand down the line.
“We’re mulling over importing energy from Laos in 2024 and 2025 to put into motion the plans outlined in this signed agreement, which will allow for the company [SchneiTec] to look for the capital investment needed for construction.
“According to the plan, the construction project [the transmission line to the Cambodia-Lao border] will take at least three years to build,” Jona said.
