The construction of $230 million Stung Pursat hydropower I dam with a capacity of 80 megawatt is set to break ground soon, after the ground preparation at the construction site has been made since last year.

Located on the Pursat River in Pramuoy commune, Veal Veng district, the project has investment from South Korean firm SPHP (Cambodia) Co Ltd.

The groundbreaking ceremony of the 80-mW dam will be held soon under the presidency of Prime Minister Hun Sen, said Suy Sem, Minister of Mines and Energy, during an inspection visit to the construction site yesterday.

It will be the eighth dam in the country and second dam in the Pursat province.

“The Stung Pursat hydropower I dam with a full capacity of 80 mW in the rainy season and 40 mW in the dry season will be finished in 2026,” Sem said.

The impact of the project to the local people and compensation has been completed, he said.

The construction of the Stung Pursat hydropower I dam has been delayed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

After completion, Electricite du Cambodge (EDC) will buy power from the firm at the rate of $0.07 per kWh.

Pursat province currently has one dam, the 120MW Atai Dam, which started operation in 2015. Besides hydropower, there are also two solar power plants projects — a 60-megawatt and 30-megawatt — under construction in the Pursat province.

The electricity demand in Cambodia has surged to 4,014 mW in 2021, an increase of 1 percent from 3,972 MWs in the year before, according to the Electricity Authority of Cambodia.

Around 3,033 mW were generated locally by hydroelectric dams, coal-fired power plants, diesel-fired power plants, solar power plants and biomass power plants, and 981 mW were imported from neighbouring Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, the report said.

The main electricity sources in Cambodia are hydroelectric dams, or 1,400 mW and coal-fired power plants.

According to the report, the electricity demand in the Southeast Asian nation is expected to increase further by another 5.8 percent to 4,247 mW this year thanks to a post-COVID-19 pandemic economic recovery.

The ministry has prepared a master plan for the development of the long-term energy sector up to 2040 and has fully considered the goal of supplying electricity in Cambodia to be sufficient, quality, stable and affordable with the development of clean energy and fighting against climate change with the United Nations.

Cambodia will not continue to provide coal-fired power development projects other than those approved by the government in 2019, Sem has said, citing that the ministry will not allow any hydropower studies on the Mekong River.

• Tags: hydropower dam, Pursat