After waiting nearly six years for money, the government has signed a deal with a Malaysian company to build a power plant in Kompong Cham province.
Global Technological Support SND, Bhd—which signed an agreement with Electricite du Cambodge in 1996 to build a power plant—will begin construction on a power facility in the next few months, said EdC spokesman Chan Sodavath. The completion date is not yet known.
The Asian economic crisis and factional fighting in 1997 made it difficult for Global Tech to find funding, but Malaysia’s Exim Bank has now approved a loan, Chan Sodavath said.
Global Tech currently operates a 1 megawatt power plant in Kompong Cham, but the new power plant will eventually be able to produce up to 20 megawatts of power, if there is enough market demand.
The power plant will be built on a 20,000 square-meter plot in Kompong Cham district.
Only about 20 percent of Kompong Cham’s 1.6 million people have access to electricity. Memot and Ponhear Krek districts receive power from Vietnam, paying about 450 riel per kilowatt-hour, Kompong Cham Deputy Governor Mao Phirun said.
Electricity in the rest of the province costs around 850 riel per kilowatt-hour. Power produced by Global Tech will likely cost about the same, but that will be decided by EdC, Chan Sodavath said.
Global Tech will be in charge of building and operating the power plant, while EdC will be in charge of distribution and sales. Global Tech will also be responsible for installation of equipment such as power lines, Chan Sodavath said.
Ith Praing, secretary of state for the Ministry of Mines and Industry, said that he expected electricity prices to fall when the project is finished.
