A local firm, Khmer Electricity Power, is outfitting a $25 million power plant designed to sell electricity to the state-run company Electricity du Cambodge, said Ith Praing, secretary of State for the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy.
The demand for electricity in Phnom Penh has increased 12 percent yearly, which resulted in a shortage last year, he said.
“This year we lack electricity,” Ith Praing said. “Next year, maybe we will have enough, and the years after, we may lack again.”
EdC already supplies about 120 megawatts of electricity to Phnom Penh. As an independent power producer, KEP’s plant will be able to generate 45 megawatts of electricity. EdC will buy electricity from KEP, which will enable it to distribute between 150 megawatts to 165 megawatts to Phnom Penh and its outskirts in 2005.
“It is 50 percent cheaper than when EdC bought from other private companies,” said Oknha Kok An, owner of Anco Group Ltd, the parent company of KEP, which has an 18-year contract with EdC.
Anco Group Ltd also distributes 555 brand cigarettes and produces Anco Brother drinking water.
KEP plans to import a total of six generators from Finland, each with a diesel engine capacity of
8 megawatts.
By 2007, Cambodia will buy electricity from Vietnam and Thailand to supply several provinces, including Kandal, Takeo and Kampot, Ith Praing said. The grid will link the Thai border to Banteay Meanchey, Battambang and Siem Reap provinces, he added.
Ith Praing expects the price of electricity to decrease for provincial users. The cost is between $0.16 to about $0.45 per kilowatt hour compared to $0.09 per kilowatt hour in Phnom Penh.
