Energy
Electricity production
Flooding from dam washes out homes, rice fields in southern Cambodia
Local government officials in a southern Cambodian province failed to evacuate villagers in time to prevent their homes and rice fields from flooding after the operators of a Chinese-built hydropower dam informed them a day earlier that they would open the facility’s gates to release ...
Chandara Yang
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/flooding-from-dam-washes-out-homes-rice-fields-in-southern-cambodia-09162015162039.html
Cambodia turns to Malaysia for renewable energy boost
Cambodia and Malaysia have reached an agreement to collaborate on renewable energy and green technology, officials confirmed yesterday. ...
James Reddick
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/15751/cambodia-turns-to-malaysia-for-renewable-energy-boost/
Solar financing on the way
A program to provide credit to people to buy home solar panels is set to launch this month after three microfinance organizations agreed to sign on, said Arjen Luxwolda, managing director of solar provider Kamworks. ...
Igor Kossov
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/15590/solar-financing-on-the-way/
Local activist called in for questioning
A prominent activist in Koh Kong province who has opposed the construction of the Stung Cheay Areng dam has been summonsed to court for alleged “forest crimes”. ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/local-activist-called-questioning
Laos dam project a black eye for Mekong cooperation
When the Lao national assembly last week approved a potentially destructive dam project just 2 kilometers from the border with Cambodia, the surprise announcement was yet another blow to the regional framework designed to protect the Mekong River. ...
James Reddick
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/15553/laos-dam-project-a-black-eye-for-mekong-cooperation/
Hydro dam does little for locals, study finds
Most families immediately downstream of Cambodia’s first major hydropower dam are worse off than they were before the project, according to a new study by U.K. researchers that urges the government to pay more attention to impacts on local residents as it gears up for ...
Zsombor Peter and Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hydro-dam-does-little-for-locals-study-finds-92523/
Cambodia well suited for solar, though use remains low
Cambodia has a high degree of solar radiation, making the country a good place for the renewable energy source, a report from the Asian Development Bank says. ...
Sun Sokhen
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/cambodia-well-suited-for-solar-though-use-remains-low/2927056.html
Cambodia dam’s benefits exclude people in its vicinity
The construction of the Kamchay Dam in Cambodia, though beneficial to urban areas, has not been so good for those who live close to the dam site in Kampot province, according to a study. ...
Madhukara Putty
http://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/energy/news/cambodia-dam-s-benefits-exclude-people-in-its-vicinity.html
Sesan villagers reject offer, call for studies
Villagers in Stung Treng province have rejected a new compensation offer from the firm building the divisive Lower Sesan 2 hydropower dam. ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sesan-villagers-reject-offer-call-studies
Dammed if they don’t
People who have accepted relocation from the future reservoir zone of the Lower Sesan II hydropower project have called for the suspension of the resettlement program for one year and help to repair homes built by the Cambodian-Chinese energy firm constructing the dam.Villagers who held ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/dammed-if-they-dont
ADB report says solar good fit for Kingdom
A report released this month by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) suggests that due to Cambodia’s high suitability to solar power, energy from solar panels is a viable and sustainable source of power that could lead to energy independence. ...
Alessandro Sassoon
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/adb-report-says-solar-good-fit-kingdom
Cambodia has big clean energy potential
Energy is a basic human need that must be fulfilled to achieve sustainable development. This kind of development is not possible without energy and policies to meet energy demand. ...
Heng Pheakdey
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/13540/cambodia-has-big-clean-energy-potential/
Hun Sen dismisses reports on Don Sahong dam construction
Prime Minister Hun Sen has dismissed reports that Lao PDR has commenced construction of the giant 360MW Don Sahong Hydro Dam project. ...
T. Mohan
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/13211/hun-sen-dismisses-reports-on-don-sahong-dam-construction/
EdC sends warning to staff
Following various complaints from Phnom Penh residents about surges in their electricity bills despite unaltered usage patterns and frequent blackouts, the state electricity body issued an announcement on Tuesday warning staff that they will be fired if caught recording the wrong number on electric meters. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/edc-sends-warning-staff
Biogas to power rural areas
Commercial biogas plants will be installed across the Kingdom to provide electricity to rural areas that are off the national grid, as government and development agencies look to reach the 38 per cent of villages with no power supply. ...
Ananth Baliga and Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/biogas-power-rural-areas
Sesan families report illness
Villagers living downstream from the controversial Lower Sesan II hydropower project have claimed that they contracted unusual skin ailments causing large black spots on their bodies after the firm building the dam drained industrial waste into a river they use for bathing. Cambodia’s Royal Group, a ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sesan-families-report-illness
Power bill spikes raise alarm
Seemingly arbitrary increases in electricity prices are raising eyebrows in Phnom Penh, as residents’ bills are showing marked-up charges despite unchanged usage patterns – and frequent blackouts. Citizens are lodging complaints with the state-owned electricity company Electricite du Cambodge (EdC), claiming that their bills are rapidly ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/power-bill-spikes-raise-alarm
Gov’t sweetens deal for Sesan Dam families
As work moves ahead on the controversial Lower Sesan 2 dam in Stung Treng province, the Ministry of Mines and Energy met Tuesday with representatives of more than 250 families still refusing to make way for the dam’s reservoir. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-sweetens-deal-for-sesan-dam-families-86997/
Work picking up at Don Sahong dam site
Despite protests from its neighbours and the international community, construction is ramping up at the proposed Don Sahong dam site in southern Laos, according to Cambodians living near the border. Vanna, 34, said activity spiked last Thursday at the site, less than 2 kilometres north ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/work-picking-don-sahong-dam-site
After distributing cash, group denies CPP links
Representatives of a group known as Cambodia Youth Movement 157, which counts Defense Ministry officials among its leadership, on Sunday handed out money to eviction-threatened indigenous families in Koh Kong province’s Areng Valley on behalf of Hun Manet, the son of Prime Minister Hun Sen. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/after-distributing-cash-in-areng-valley-group-denies-cpp-links-86879/
Regional concerns over dam project in Laos remain unaddressed: green group
An intergovernmental body that supervises development along the Mekong River must address regional concerns over the controversial Don Sahong dam project in Laos at its annual consultation meeting next week, an environmental watchdog said Thursday. ...
Joshua Lipes
http://bit.ly/1Fqzm4k
Solar sheds some light on Cambodian students
While it may be unpopular, nearly everyone has had to do homework. Yet for those living in communities with no or intermittent access to electricity, the ability to study at home is sometimes a luxury. In Cambodia, French non-profit association Lumières sur le Mékong – ...
Anmar Frangoul
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102564971
Residents claim threats over anti-dam slogans
Residents of Stung Treng province who are facing eviction due to the Lower Sesan II hydropower project accused local officials yesterday of threatening to arrest them if they don’t refrain from hanging banners reading “Would rather die than leave” on their homes. ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/residents-claim-threats-over-anti-dam-slogans
AIIB will use its US$50 billion to help spur hydroelectric development in Asia
With 35 nations signing on as founding members, Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has a reported US$50 billion foundation from which it plans to spur infrastructure growth in developing Asian countries with projects that include hydroelectric facilities. ...
Gregory B. Poindexter
http://bit.ly/1cbOuvO