Hydropower plants funded by China are helping Cambodian cities say goodbye to "islands of the grid"

[Photo/China Huadian Co., LTD.]

In southwestern Cambodia's Koh Kong Province, the Lower Stung Russei Chrum Hydropower Station, invested and built by China Huadian Co., LTD., celebrated its 10th anniversary of commercial operation in July this year. Walking into Stung Russei Chrum, surrounded by mountains, the large Chinese and Cambodian characters on the dam of the power station "Develop hydropower to benefit the people" are particularly eye-catching.

This is the first hydropower station invested and developed by China Huadian overseas under the "build-operate-transfer (BOT)" model, with an installed capacity of 338,000 kilowatts and an average annual power generation of about 1 billion KWH, which has greatly eased the shortage of electricity supply in Cambodia.

"Hydropower stations are energy infrastructure, and the most important thing is to benefit local development and improve people's quality of life." Zhu Xinyuan, head of China Huadian Lower Stung Russei Chrum Hydroelectric Project (Cambodia) Company (referred to as "Stung Russei Chrum Company"), told reporters that before the Lower Stung Russei Chrum Hydropower Station was put into operation, Cambodia's gap electricity exceeded 20% of the national electricity consumption, seriously restricting local economic and social development.

Wu Xitian is a Cambodian translator for the Stung Russei Chrum Company and lives in Koh Kong City, Koh Kong Province. He told reporters that Koh Kong was previously a "grid island" in Cambodia, and all electricity was imported from neighboring Thailand. The company has set up a 32km transmission line from the power station to Koh Kong City to help connect it to the national grid. Local electricity prices are now about 80% lower than before, there are few power outages, more and more factories, and people have added air conditioning and other electrical appliances. "Now that electricity is cheap and convenient, our lives are getting better and better, and we really appreciate Huadian." 

In the past 10 years, the Lower Stung Russei Chrum Hydropower Station has been in continuous safe production for more than 3,900 days since it was put into operation, and the cumulative output of green energy has reached 11 billion KWH, and the power generation in the following year of operation accounts for 30% of the national power generation in Cambodia.

This project fully adopts China hydropower technical standards. Luo Jianhua, head of the production technology department of Stung Russei Chrum Company, told reporters that after the operation, the project has fully introduced the safety, quality and environmental protection management system and management standards from China Huadian.

"Technical supervision is an important work for the regular inspection of special equipment in hydropower stations, which is related to the safety of personal and equipment in power stations, but Cambodia does not have relevant technical standards and requirements." Luo Jianhua said that in 2016, the company built the only power station test center in Cambodia in accordance with China's advanced standards, creating a precedent for technical supervision of hydropower projects in Cambodia.

Zhu Xinyuan said, "As a Chinese-funded enterprise in Cambodia, we bring Chinese equipment, Chinese technology and Chinese standards to Cambodia, which is to strive to provide high-quality clean electricity to the local people and light up people's beautiful life."

Since it was put into operation, the Lower Stung Russei Chrum Hydropower Station has played a "pillar" role in guaranteeing energy supply for major sports events and important events such as the Cambodian New Year for many times. 

In order to implement localized operation, Stung Russei Chrum Company organized the Cambodia training class of Huadian "Belt and Road" Energy Institute and held activities such as "Huadian Night School" to help local employees improve their skills. At present, Cambodian employees account for more than 50% of the project, and many Cambodian employees have taken technical management positions. 

"The Lower Stung Russei Chrum Hydropower Station is a bridge of friendship between the Chinese and Cambodian people. Under the guidance of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, I hope the Chinese and Cambodian employees can jointly nourish the flower of China-Cambodia friendship." Zhu Xinyuan said.

Sourc: <https://www.yidaiyilu.gov.cn/p/0PKS823F.html>

Translated by Zhao Shengbo