Cambodia: Coal-fired plant tests new power generator

Cambodia: Coal-fired plant tests new power generator

Structural testing of the third unit of a 700-megawatt coal-fired power
plant under development in Preah Sihanouk province has begun, with the new
unit expected to go online by the end of the quarter, a government official
said yesterday.

The 135-megawatt power-generating unit, which was initially slated to be
operational last month, will add to the existing 270-megawatt capacity of
the massive Cambodia International Investment Development Group (CIIDG)
power station, which first fired up in late 2014.

"The new unit is in its testing phase and will have a commercial operation
date soon," said Tun Lean, undersecretary of state for the Electricity
Authority of Cambodia (EAC).

A $383 million joint venture between CIIDG, owned by influential Cambodian
People's Party Senator Lao Meng Khin, and China-based Erdos Hongjun Electric
Power Co is developing the power plant under a 33-year build-operate-own
concession from the government.

While the company can officially start selling electricity from the new unit
once it passes the compliance checks, Lean said the government has not set a
definitive date to start purchasing electricity. That would depend on
Electricite du Cambodge (EdC), the state-owned energy provider, he said.

Victor Jona, spokesperson for the Ministry of Mines and Energy, said the
government hopes to have the third unit linked to the electricity grid
within two months.

"After it passes the tests, it will be connected to the national grid," he
said.

The plant's increased output will help grow domestic energy production, Jona
said, adding that the facility will continue to rely on Indonesian coal
imports for fuel.

According to the EAC's most recent annual report, the partially completed
CIIDG plant was already the country's single largest domestic energy
provider, producing 1.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2015,
nearly a third of Kingdom's total production.

This easily eclipsed any single hydroelectric dam project, as well as the
100-megawatt coal-fired plant owned by Malaysia's Leader Universal Holdings
that sits adjacent to it.

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com