Phnom Penh (FN), June 3 – Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen claimed that the government has gained many lessons from the shortages of electricity supply this year and that power outage will not happen in 2020, speaking Monday at the Royal University of Phnom Penh graduation ceremony at Koh Pich.
"During the dry season, we face water shortages that halt our hydropower. Our hydro capacity is 1400 megawatts but can only generate around 150 more or less. It is a good lesson for us this year to get ready for adequate supply in 2020,” said Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed concern that hydroelectric power is not effective during the dry season. The government will introduce other options of power supplies, including coal power plants, oil-fired plant, gas-fired plant and solar panels.
Cambodia currently has three coal-power plants operating with a capacity of 370 megawatts and another 130-megawatt plant to start today, 3 June.
In late April, the government decided at the cabinet meeting to build one more hydropower and two more solar farms that will produce 200MW energy in total. The 80MW Stung Pursat hydropower project will be built in Pursat’s Veal Veng district, and the 200MW solar farms in Pursat and Kompong Chhnang provinces.
In 2020, Phnom Penh will have an additional 400 megawatts supply, 200 megawatts electric generator will be imported from Finland and the other 200 megawatts from Germany, Prime Minister addressed this morning.
In a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo last week, Prime Minister Hun Sen already requested Japan for assistance to build the 350km electricity transmission lines from Cambodia-Laos border to the capital Phnom Penh.
Cambodia is making a new plan for energy in response to the kingdom’s economic growth.
According to the Premier, the electricity shortages Cambodia faces are resulted from the booming of construction sector, an increase of 700% in 2019 compared to last year. Cities in the capital Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, and Sihanoukville used to require only 20MW, now 100MW is not enough for those cities.
=FRESH NEWS
