A $92 million transmission line will be constructed at the
Lower Sesan II hydro dam in Stung Treng by June 2017 to transfer power
to Kampong Cham and Kratie provinces, according to a release from
Malaysian power system engineering company Pestech International.
Pestech’s subsidiaries – Pestech (Cambodia) Ltd, Enersol Co Ltd and
Diamond Power Limited – will build and operate the 230 kV line that
will transfer 400 megawatts of power once the hydro-electric dam is
operational.
Pestech (Cambodia) and Enersol have an agreement with Diamond Power
to undertake the design, building, testing and commissioning of the
project. Whereas, Diamond Power will operate the line for 25 years, with
state-owned Electricite du Cambodge (EdC) paying Diamond Power $12.2
million annually for the first three years and $18.2 million annually
for the remaining 22 years in transmission charges.
The total payment made to Diamond Power by EdC will be $437 million, almost five times the base cost of the project.
Officials at EdC and Ministry of Mine and Energy could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Ty Thany, executive director at the Electricity Authority of
Cambodia, said private investors were needed to build the transmission
line, as the government lacks the capital to do it themselves.
“We need this transmission line to be completed by the time the
construction of Lower Sesan II dam is finished, so that it can
disseminate the power for usage, otherwise the power generated will be a
waste,” Thany said.
The transmission line from Stung Treng will connect to the existing
national grid, as well as other available grids in the country, Thany
said.
Cambodia is expected to generate about 3,430 megawatts by 2020, from
12 hydroelectric and coal power plants, licenses for which have already
been granted.
The $816 million Lower Sesan II dam project was approved in November
2012 and is expected to be operational in 2017. The dam, which is a
joint venture between Cambodia’s Royal Group and China’s Hydrolancang
International, is run by Hydro Power Lower Sesan II Company, with
construction having begun in early 2014.
Cambodia’s power grid has been largely dependent on electricity
imports from neighbouring countries since 1993, with the country having
to import 1,691 megawatts from Vietnam, 579 megawatts from Thailand and
10.73 megawatts from Laos in 2013.