EdC Appeals For Public to Unplug In Power Crisis
Cambodia’s national electricity provider yesterday appealed to the public to unplug from the national energy supply in an effort to alleviate chronic seasonal power shortages that are causing blackouts across Phnom Penh and the rest of the country. Eletricite du Cambodge (EdC) published an announcement asking people with back-up generators- most likely businesses- to use their own power supplies so that electricity could be freed up for the rest of the population. … Last week, the Edc said that the 190-megawatt Kamchay dam in Kampot province- Cambodia’s only large-scale online hydropower dam- was operating at only 10 percent capacity due to a lack of water, which was a significant cause of the blackouts. … Cambodia’s steady economic growth has caused a spike in demand, and electricity shortages have been compounded, according to the announcement, by a shortfall in the amount of energy Vietnam had promised to sell to Cambodia. “Of the 250 Megawatts promised to us by Vietnam, only 170 megawatts were made available due to Vietnam’s own shortages,” the statement says. Any demands the EdC is making on the public to switch off power are short-term, it said, as a new coal-fired power plant in Preah Sihanouk province is planned to go online in June, while the rainy season will refill hydropower capacity. … In the meantime, the EdC said it is taking its own steps, including increasing the operating times of the Kamchay dam and Kompong Speu’s Kirirom dam. It will purchase more electricity in the next few days from Thailand. “We are getting 15 megawatts from Thailand to supply Phnom Penh,” the announcement says, adding that it hoped in the next week to buy another 10-megawatts from neighboring countries, and to add a further 10-megawatts before Khmer News Year in April. …
