Phnom Penh, October 30 (China News Service) "China encourages enterprises and Cambodia to continue to strengthen cooperation in the energy sector, help promote the optimization and upgrading of industrial structure, and work with 'Belt and Road' energy partners to build a balanced, green and sustainable recovery of the world economy." Wu Guoquan, economic and commercial counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Cambodia, said in an interview with China News Agency on the 30th, responding to the issue of Chinese-funded power companies helping the local energy transformation.
Since 2007, in order to solve the shortage of electricity supply, the Cambodian government has actively implemented the "power first" development strategy, vigorously promoted power construction, and significantly increased the rate of independent power supply. Chinese-funded enterprises actively participate in the development of electricity in Cambodia, involving power generation, transmission and distribution, power construction and other fields, spanning the construction of thermal power, hydropower, solar energy and other power stations.
Infographic: Apartment buildings near Diamond Island in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. China News Service reporter Ouyang Kaiyu photographed
Not long ago, China announced that it will strive to achieve carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, and will vigorously support the green and low-carbon development of energy in developing countries. In April 2019, the inauguration ceremony of the Belt and Road Energy Partnership was held in Beijing, and Cambodia is a member of the partnership. Observers pointed out that as a good neighbor, good brother, good friend and good partner of Cambodia, the "double carbon" goal proposed by China will bring new opportunities for Cambodia's clean energy development and provide "green power" for Cambodia's post-epidemic economic recovery.
China's latest statement sends a positive signal and brings confidence to those who are worried about Cambodia's energy structure. Recently, Bridget, cambodia's national director of the Energy Lab, which has been advocating the development of renewable energy, published an article in the Phnom Penh Post under the title of "China's 'Coal Removal' Declaration Can Purify Cambodia". Her answer is "yes," noting that China will push cambodia's energy green transition.
"A series of power projects built by Chinese-funded enterprises, including the Dadai Hydropower Station, the Ganzai Hydropower Station, the Oresay Downstream Hydropower Station, the San River Secondary Hydropower Station, and the Phnom Penh-Bodhisattva-Battambang Power Transmission and Transformation Project, have made outstanding contributions to providing high-quality power energy for Cambodia and promoting economic development." Wu Guoquan said.
Taking hydropower as an example, Cambodia is rich in water resources, with hydropower reserves of about 10 million kilowatts, and the installed capacity of hydropower stations currently under construction and under construction is 1.733 million kilowatts, accounting for about 17.3% of the total reserves, and the potential for hydropower resources to be developed is huge.
A reporter from The China News Service recently visited the Dadai Hydropower Station invested by China Heavy Machinery Co., Ltd. Located 261 kilometers from Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, the hydropower station is located on the Dade River in The Duc Province on the southwestern side of the Cardamom Mountains in western Cambodia.
According to Zhao Wensheng, deputy general manager of Cambodia Dadai Hydropower Co., Ltd., Dadai Hydropower Station is built and operated in a BOT (construction-operation-transfer) mode. The total reservoir capacity of Dadai Reservoir is 404 million m3, and the regulated reservoir capacity is 322 million m3, which has some annual adjustment capacity. On August 13, 2014, Unit 1 of Dadai Hydropower Station completed commissioning and was successfully connected to the grid for power generation. Up to now, the cumulative on-grid electricity of Dadai Hydropower Station has exceeded 6.9 billion kWh, and the cumulative safe production has exceeded 2,600 days.
In the context of the new crown epidemic that has swept the world and hit Cambodia's economic development hard, Dadai Hydropower Station has fought a tough battle to resume work and production, and in December 2020, as a power station that achieved excess power generation in the year of the epidemic, Dadai Hydropower was specially awarded the "Power Generation Excellence Award" by the Cambodian National Power Company.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen spoke highly of the project, saying that the Dadai hydropower project is not only conducive to flood control, but also provides employment opportunities and increases the income of local residents, increases Cambodia's power supply capacity and power supply security, and reduces electricity prices, which plays an important role in Cambodia's social development and comprehensive economic development and poverty eradication.
According to the statistics of the Cambodian Chinese Chamber of Commerce Electric Power Enterprise Association, by the end of 2020, Chinese-funded enterprises have completed and put into operation 10 hydropower stations, 1 thermal power station and 2 heavy oil power stations in Cambodia, with the total installed capacity accounting for more than 70% of the total installed capacity in Cambodia, and the proportion of Chinese-funded power stations on the Internet in 2020 will reach 80.3%.
Analysts pointed out that China Huadian, China Huaneng, China National Machinery Group and other Chinese companies that have invested in traditional energy projects in Cambodia have strong investment, construction and operation capabilities for new energy projects, and the figure of these Chinese-funded enterprises will also be active in the construction of related projects in Cambodia in the future.
"In the past 15 years, the Cambodian economy has grown at an average annual rate of about 7%, and the growth of electricity demand in the same period has reached two to three times the economic growth rate. Energy shortage has become an important challenge to Cambodia's economic and social development, and the investment and construction of Chinese-funded enterprises has greatly alleviated Cambodia's energy shortage dilemma and provided a strong guarantee for Cambodia's post-epidemic economic recovery. Jebisa, deputy director of the Power Generation Department of Cambodia Electric Power Company, commented that China's role will still play an important role in Cambodia's future new energy development. (End)
Source: China News Network