Infrastructure
Electricity infrastructure
Operations commence at 18MW Kirirom III hydro power plant in Cambodia
The Cambodian government has commenced operations at the 18MW Kirirom III hydro power plant in the southwestern part of the country. The facility will produce 78 million KWh of electricity a year and help the country reduce its power shortage crisis and dependence on oil-fueled electricity. ...
Charcoal prices rise in urban areas
Deforestation and Cambodia’s strong economic growth have resulted in an increase in the price of charcoal, an energy source the poor are dependent on, charcoal vendors say. The price of charcoal in Phnom Penh had increased at least 200 riel ($0.05) a kilogram compared to 2012, charcoal ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013022661597/Business/charcoal-prices-rise-in-urban-areas.html
PM Hun Sen ushers in new dam
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday inaugurated the third in a string of six Chinese-funded hydropower dam projects, offering lavish praise for the superpower as he officially opened the $47 million Kirirom 3 dam in Koh Kong. “I am really pleased for the new ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013022561590/National/pm-hun-sen-ushers-in-new-dam.html
Fracking a problem for SE Asia
Impoverished countries hoping to strike it rich by developing their limited oil and gas reserves are being urged to move quickly or risk having their expectations clipped by fracking, which is depressing market prices while adding life to fields once thought exhausted. The ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013022561573/Business/fracking-a-problem-for-se-asia.html
Hun Sen says Hydropower Is the Key to Stable Electricity Prices
Cambodia’s focus on hydropower will reduce its independence on oil and ensure nationwide access to electricity at a stable price, Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a speech Saturday during the inauguration of a $47.1 million hydropower dam in Koh Kong province. However environmental groups ...
Hun Sen Says Chinese Companies Not Favored, Just Served
Prime Minister Hun Sen yeserday lauded his government’s strong ties with China but said Cambodia does not give Chinese any preferential treatment. Mr. Hun Sen was speaking at the inauguration of the $47.1 million Kirirom III hydropower dam in Koh Kong province’s Sre Ambel District- constructed ...
Government Has 13 Payment Guarantees for Energy Projects
A CPP lawmaker said yesterday the government has signed 13 payment guarantees to companies constructing coal-fired power plants and hydropower dams in the country, a move that an Asian Development Bank (ADB) official reiterated was risky for the country’s fiscal future. CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-has-13-payment-guarantees-for-energy-projects-11377/
Senate Oks Sesan Dam Payment Deal
After a 60- minute debate, the Senate on Friday voted in favour of a payment guarantee for the private companies constructing the controversial Lower Sesan 2 dam in Stung Treng province. At the Senate session, 43 out of 48 senators voted to approve the deal which ...
Hun Sen says all villages to have electricity by 2020
Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday that all Cambodian villages would have electricity by 2020 while 70 percent of households would have power by 2030. Hun Sen said average per capita consumption of electricity rose at an annual rate of seven percent over the past ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=ZjIwMmU0N2I1NTF
Regional Bank, IMF Note Risks to Government's Dam Guarantee
The government’s guaranteed bailout of major infrastructure projects, such as the future 400-megawatt hydropower dam in Stung Treng province, requires a thorough assessment of forecasted risks – a capacity which the government currently does not possess, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) official said yesterday. Speaking on ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/regional-bank-imf-note-risks-to-governments-dam-guarantee-11269/
Move to lift energy efficiency in Cambodia
A national energy efficiency policy is currently in development, officials told the Post last week. Experts at the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Energy (MIME) and the multi-donor fund EU Energy Initiative Partnership Dialogue Facility (EUEI PDF) are in discussions about details of the policy, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013022061465/Business/move-to-lift-energy-efficiency-in-cambodia.html
CPP Promises Oversight on Royal Group's Dam
The government has promised to monitor the progress of local conglomerate Royal Group in its implementation of a $781 million dam project in Stung Treng province, that has been guaranteed by the government, CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said yesterday. Mr. Yeap said yesterday that the ...
About 100 Protest Electricity Prices in Mondolkiri
About 100 residents of Mondolkiri province’s Sen Monorom City protested outside the provincial hall on Monday, demanding that local authorities reduce the price of electricity in the city, officials said yesterday. Choeng Sochantha, director of the provincial administration office, said the protestors demanded that the price ...
Corporate: China powers its way through Cambodia
In the hilly wilderness across southwestern Cambodia, the foundations of the country’s strengthening bonds with China are taking root. It is there that large dams supported by Chinese money are being built to literally bring the impoverished Southeast Asian nation out of darkness. The largest of ...
http://www.hydroworld.com/news/2013/02/18/corporate-china-powers-its-way-through-cambodia.html
Questions follow on heels of hydropower dam Sesan 2 vote
Villagers near the Sesan River in Stung Treng province are a step closer to being forced to make way for a hydropower dam following a National Assembly vote on Friday, but they are no closer to learning the details of such a move, a community ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013021861415/National/questions-follow-on-heels-of-sesan-2-vote.html
Sesan Dam Law Approved
Cambodia’s parliament on Friday approved a law providing financial guarantees for the developers of a planned hydropower dam on a Mekong River tributary, despite opposition from civil society groups seeking to delay the project. Villagers campaigning against the Lower Sesan 2 dam in northeastern Cambodia’s Stung ...
Villagers Petition Against Dam
Ethnic minority villagers expecting to be displaced by a proposed Chinese-built hydroelectric dam in northeastern Cambodia are asking the country’s parliament not to approve a law providing financial guarantees for the project. Villagers living along three rivers that will be affected by the dam spoke ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/villagers-02142013163955.html
Civil society seeks to delay new dam on Sesan River
Civil society groups urged the National Assembly Thursday to delay the adoption of a bill on the construction of a $780 million dam on the Sesan River in northeast Cambodia. Chhit Sam Ath, executive director of NGO Forum, told a news conference that estimates of ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=OTNhN2RjN2M1ZTA
Energy Minister Defends Lower Sesan 2 Project
Energy Minister Suy Sem yesterday defended a draft law on the financing of a massive dam project in Stung Treng province which is slated for debate at the National Assembly on Friday. Environmental groups have called debate of the law premature, as no consultation with local ...
Cambodia launches project to develop biomass-fuelled energy technologies
Cambodia’s Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy on Thursday launched a four year project, aiming at promoting the development of biomass-fueled renewable energy generation technologies in industrial sector, officials said. The 5.6 million US dollar project will provide technical and partial financial support for the ...
Lawmakers to Discuss Sesan 2 Dam Draft Law
The National Assembly has announced that it will discuss a draft law on the financing of a controversial dam project in Stung Treng province on February 15, a move environmental groups called premature. Meach Mean, coordinator for 3S Rivers Protection Network – which has been ...
Concern Over Chinese Investment
Cambodia’s largest opposition party has expressed concern that China’s investment in the country is heavily skewed towards exploiting natural resources, wreaking havoc on the environment. China is Cambodia’s largest investor by a wide margin, having poured U.S. $9.7 billion into the country over the past 18 ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/china-02072013175545.html
Investment Or Imperialism? Tracking China's Big Ambitions In Cambodia
A few years ago this scene would have played out in China. More specifically, it would have played out in a Chinese coastal region to which millions of rural folks had arrived looking for work. A huge hangar, piles of fabrics of all colors at both ...
Cambodia's energy costs deter investors
Cambodia’s infrastructure is deterring highly anticipated investment into the production of raw materials to support its rapidly growing garment sector, experts say. While garment exports rose 10.2 per cent to $5.48 billion last year, the increase of raw materials imported to support this growth increased about ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013020761221/Business/cambodia-s-energy-costs-deter-investors.html