A ceremony attended by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen marked the completion of the country’s 338-MW Russei Chrum Krom hydropower plant.
The US$500 million plant, located in western part of Koh Kong province, is Cambodia‘s largest hydroelectric project and part of the government’s plan to increase power availability.
“The dam will provide great benefits to both households and business establishements,” Sen said during the inauguration ceremony.
The project was developed by the state-owned China Huadian Corp. under a 35-year build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement with the Cambodian government.
Per the contract, power generated by Russei Chrum Krom will be sold at a rate of 7.35 cents/kWh to state-owned Electricity of Cambodia, with the government earning about $12.5 million per year from tax revenues.
HydroWorld.com reported water impoundment at the project began in January, 2014.
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Editor’s Note: Hydro Group managing editor Elizabeth Ingram was interviewed by BBC World Service regarding the impact and importance of the Russei Chrum Krom project. Listen to her thoughts on the BBC’s archive here.
