LIGHTING UP CAMBODIA

By Pan Yingqiu

Bird’s eye view of Kamchay Hydropower Station in Cambodia.

As night falls, Phnom Penh,the capital of Cambodia,lights up brilliantly. Twinkling lights outline commercial and residential areas, columns of water in fountains on city streets dance with music, and streams of cars come and go.While the local residents enjoy their nightlife, many of them may not realize that over half of this city is powered by the Kamchay Hydropower Station,150 kilometers away.

Funded by Power Construction Corporation of China (POWERCHINA) through a build–operate–transfer(BOT) contract, the Kamchay Hydropower Station has been operating for six years since construction was completed in August 2012. Praised by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen as the “Three Gorges Project of Cambodia,” the facility has generated tremendous power that has driven the economic and social progress of local communities.

Every Drop Matters

First planned way back in the 1960s, the Kamchay Hydropower Station is Cambodia’s first hydroelectric facility and first project to solicit international bids. It was also POWERCHIHA’s first overseas BOT project and the largest hydropower project funded by Chinese enterprises outside China at the time. It remains a groundbreaking project for Chinese overseas hydroelectric construction in terms of planning and engineering complexity.

Completed over four years,the “Three Gorges Project of Cambodia” on the Kamchay River provides a total of about 500 million kilowatt-hours of electricity each year to Phnom Penh and the provinces of Kampot and Takeo. At the same time, it is the first largescale hydroelectric project in Cambodia to realize gridconnected power generation.The Kamchay hydroelectric dam also plays an important role in flood control, irrigation, water supply, tourism and balancing the ecological flow downstream.It is clearly a landmark project for Cambodia’s efforts to improve its standards of living.

Every drop of water matters in power generation. In August 2017, the monthly output of the Kamchay hydroelectric facility reached a record-high 113 million kilowatt-hours. It has been awarded the Special Contribution Award and the Excellent Business Partner by the local government and the stateowned Electricity of Cambodia for its safe operation since its launch. In 2016, the China Electricity Council approved the plant as an AAAA enterprise for good practice in standardization,making it the first overseas hydroelectric project operated by Chinese companies to obtain the title.

“In the past, Cambodia suffered from a major shortage of electricity,” admitted Cambodian Minister of Mines and Energy Suy Sem. “Even when half of Phnom Penh was lit up, the other half remained in the dark. Thanks to the Chinese-constructed hydroelectric stations, now we can have a surplus power supply during the rainy season. Without the investment from China,the development Cambodia is experiencing today would not be happening.”

Guaranteeing Power Supply

Following the success of the Kamchay Hydropower Station,several more BOT projects in Cambodia funded by Chinese enterprises have been launched and put into operation including Kirirom III Hydropower Dam,Tatay River Hydropower Dam,Stung Atay Hydropower Dam,Russei Chrum Krom River Hydropower Dam and Lower Sesan II Dam. The combined installed capacity of these facilities meets the demand for electricity across the entire country of Cambodia during the rainy season. As a part of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, China-Cambodia cooperation in energy has helped Chinese technology, Chinese standards, Chinese equipment as well as Chinese culture “go global.”

Zhu Xinyuan, deputy general manager of Russei Chrum Krom River Hydropower Limited based in Koh Kong Province, has witnessed the changes fostered by energy cooperation between the two countries. “Chinesefunded projects have lowered the cost of power generation in Cambodia and significantly reduced the risk of power outages in large areas,” said Zhu.“Now more and more people living in rural areas have access to affordable power. Millions of households across the country have benefited from these hydroelectric dams deep in the mountains.”

“During Spring Festival this year, a total of 42 Chinese employees and 38 Cambodian employees remained on duty to guarantee normal operation of the plant,” Zhou revealed. “About 12 staff members of the power generation unit covered four shifts a day. If there was a peak load demand from the Electricity of Cambodia, they were able to deliver electricity to the grid within three minutes and ensure a stable power supply.”

According to Suy Sem, the suburbs of Phnom Penh were left in total darkness when night fell years ago. “But hydroelectric plants built by China have sprung up one after another,greatly improving Cambodia’s power supply and lighting up every village along the national highways. This is one tangible achievement of Cambodia-China cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.”

Cambodia has made remarkable achievements in promoting the development of energy supply since 2007.Chinese-invested enterprises have played an active role in power facility construction and power generation,transmission and distribution,effectively alleviating the shortage of electricity in Cambodia and benefiting urban and rural residents across the country.

Improving Coverage

Located on the Sesan River in the Sesan district of Stung Treng Province in northeastern Cambodia, the Lower Sesan II Dam funded by China Huaneng Group began first phase operation in December last year after almost four years of construction. It is the country’s largest hydroelectric plant so far and a key Belt and Road project. When all of its eight turbines begin operating in October 2018, their output will account for more than one- fifth of Cambodia’s total installed capacity, which will be greatly significant for Cambodia’s economic development and living standard improvement.

Statistics from the Electricity Authority of Cambodia show that by the end of 2017, the country’s national power supply capacity exceeded 2,283 megawatts. Enhanced power generation capacity has provided tremendous driving force for the development of the local economy.

According to Suy Sem, 81.8 percent of villages in Cambodia had access to electricity by 2017,and based on the development trend in the next two to three years, all remote rural areas in Cambodia will have access to power by the end of 2020.

As explained by Yue Jianhua,president of Electric Power Enterprise Association of Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia, so far Chinesefunded enterprises have built 600 kilometers of 115-kilovolt and 230-kilovolt electric power transmission lines in Cambodia, which account for up to 35 percent of the country’s total length of high-voltage transmission lines. Another 1,326 kilometers are now under construction or planned.Yue also noted that Chinese power companies have built 2,587 kilometers of 22-kilovolt transmission lines in rural areas of Cambodia, accounting for nearly a quarter of the total length of the Cambodian rural power grid. A total of 3,506 kilometers of transmission lines are under construction or planned, which will add 30 percent to the existing length.

According to Yue, Cambodia’s demand for electricity multiplied more than 14 times over the past decade, and now 80 percent of the country’s electric power is generated by domestic plants.Since 2014, Chinese-funded enterprises have provided 80 percent of Cambodia’s annual power generation, making great contributions to increasing the country’s self-sufficiency in power.