Powerless Phnom Penh Struggles With Hot Season

As air-conditioning units slow to a halt, computers die and the lights go out, the frustration of local business owners and organizations in Phnom Penh is boiling over once again as the annual hot season blackouts have arrived. … The 190-megawatt, Chinese-built Kamchay hydropower dam in Kampot province came online in 2011 with the promise of bringing more power to Phnom Penh and helping reduce the country’s energy-supply deficit. Yet according to an EdC official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak with the media, the Kamchay dam is currently operating at only 10 percent of its capacity because “there is no water” during the dry season. Blackouts were also the result of EdC upgrading power transformers, which required that some sub-stations had to be temporarily cut off, the official said, adding that the upgrade work should be completed by mid-April. … “Dams need water,” Mr. Mean said. “But the fact is, Cambodia is much better suited to solar energy than hydropower,” he said. Michael Shaw, an independent renewable energy adviser who worked with NGO Engineers Without Borders in Cambodia, said that even with the nine new hydropower dams in the pipeline, Phnom Penh and other cities are growing at a pace that will exceed that supply. …

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