Chinese—Built Dam in Cambodia Begins Operations Testing

The Lower Sesan II Hydropower Plant， Cambodia’s largest hydropower dam， began testing its first-phase of operations on July 15 after more than three years of construction， the Electricity Authority of Cambodia （EAC） said on July 19.

The 400-megawatt hydropower dam， situated in northern Cambodia’s Stung Treng province， is a joint venture between China’s Hydrolancang International Energy， holding a 51 percent stake， and Cambodia’s Royal Group and Vietnamese EVN International Joint Stock Company， which hold 39 percent and 10 percent， respectively. Investment in the project is worth about US$928 million.

The project is a concessional contract following a 45-year build-operate-transfer （BOT） model， of which， five years are for construction and 40 years are for operations.

When the dam is operational， the electricity will be sold to Cambodia at the fixed price of US$0.0695 per kilowatt-hour.