Energy
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
Electricity company says weather to blame for exhorbitant bills
State power provider Electricite du Cambodge released a statement Tuesday claiming that soaring electricity bills were due to hot weather, and not because of any changes in the rates being charged to customers. ...
Buth Kimsay and Janelle Retka
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/electricity-company-says-weather-to-blame-for-exhorbitant-bills-87651/
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
Powering Cambodia’s Economy
According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the greatest obstacle to foreign investment in the Cambodian economy is the country’s deep energy shortfall. According to Cambodia’s Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Energy, the situation has not improved much in more than a decade, with only ...
Paul Pryce
http://bit.ly/1cHIn21
From power importer to self-reliance
Much of Cambodia’s electrical infrastructure was destroyed or heavily damaged during its civil war. Starting almost from scratch, the country has relied heavily on imported electricity while it rebuilds infrastructure and develops new energy sources. Keo Rottanak, director-general of Electricite du Cambodge (EdC), which controls ...
Tim Vutha
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/11844/from-power-importer-to-self-reliance/
After days without power, electricity restored to Siem Reap
After a storm damaged utility poles in Siem Reap province last week, leading to nearly four days of power outages, officials said Sunday that electricity had been fully restored to the area. ...
Pestech gets RM1.59bil concession in Cambodia
Power system engineering and technical solutions provider Pestech International Bhd has become a concession owner in Cambodia after it secures a project worth RM1.59bil. ...
Ng Bei Shan
http://bit.ly/1DncSF9
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
Energy, disease risks: report
A global risk-analysis firm has released a grim – albeit partial – snapshot of Cambodia, noting that the Kingdom’s overreliance on essential resources from other countries leaves it vulnerable to instability, and that it is at “extreme risk” of a communicable-disease pandemic. The Global Risks and ...
Charles Parkinson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/energy-disease-risks-report
Grave sites a concern at Sesan
Ethnic minority villagers who live in the planned reservoir zone of the Lower Sesan II hydropower project along the Sesan and Srepok rivers have said they will not move from their homes unless the dam company and authorities pay for the removal of their ancestors’ ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/grave-sites-concern-sesan
Sesan dam gets new design
Cambodia’s largest hydropower project has been redesigned, leading to concerns from environmental groups, but a company official who confirmed the “design optimisation” over the weekend insisted that the Lower Sesan II dam will provide clean, safe energy and have few downstream impacts. Ren Zhonghua, deputy director ...
Daniel Pye and Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/sesan-dam-gets-new-design
New Sesan, new study: NGO
Rights advocates have called for construction of the Lower Sesan II hydropower dam in Cambodia’s Stung Treng province to be halted until new environmental and social impact assessments can be carried following changes allegedly made to the project’s plans. ...
Daniel Pye
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/new-sesan-new-study-ngo
New gas safety rules
As part of a new safety initiative, the Ministry of Mines and Energy will require all petrol station owners to present a certificate acknowledging that their businesses follow risk-prevention protocols. The directive came in response to a series of petrol fires and explosions that damaged property ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/new-gas-safety-rules
International green group calls attention to negative impacts of dam projects in Laos
The development of two dams on the Lower Mekong River in Laos may have potentially devastating impact on the food security and livelihoods of 60 million people in the area, an international environmental group said. ...
Roseanne Gerin
http://bit.ly/1xe1HO5
EDC plans power line linking lake provinces
Electricite du Cambodge (EDC) will spend $167 million to install a 350-km-long high-voltage transmission line connecting four provinces around the Tonle Sap lake, the state-owned utility announced in a press release Monday. ...
Ouch Sony
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/edc-plans-power-line-linking-lake-provinces-79879/