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 them so far, the US$280 million (RM865.2 million) Kamchay Dam in Kampot province, came to life a year ago, helping to brighten the nights in Phnom Penh. It is one of five dams backed by Chinese investments aimed at easing the electricity deficit in the country of 14.9 million people â [sic] ” where only a quarter of the population has access to power from the national grid. The howls of protests from villagers and green groups have not deterred China’s dam builders, which have committed a total investment of US$1.6 billion to produce an estimated 915mw of power by harnessing the untamed rivers that gush down that remote terrain. The largest symbol of this Cambodian-Chinese alliance is the 338mw Russei Chrum Krom hydropower project, which is being built at a cost of US$500 million. …

http://www.hydroworld.com/news/2013/02/18/corporate-china-powers-its-way-through-cambodia.html