Representatives from China and Cambodia sign the Upper Stung Tatay Hydropower BOT project. [Photo/sh-jingjing.com]

Sinomach subsidiary Sinomach Heavy Equipment Group Co (Sinomach-HE), the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Cambodia, and Electricite Du Cambodge (EDC), the state power corporation of Cambodia, recently signed three agreements regarding the Upper Stung Tatay Hydropower project in Cambodia after several rounds of negotiations and approval of the Cambodian cabinet.

The agreements include a BOT (build, operate and transfer) framework and lease and power purchase contracts. Sinomach-HE will invest nearly $400 million in the construction of Cambodia’s Upper Stung Tatay Hydropower Station which is expected to have an average annual generating capacity of 530 million kilowatt hour, according to the agreements.

After completion, the company will operate the hydropower station by means of the BOT mode during the franchise period of 35 years, and collect electricity fees according to the price of electricity agreed in the contract.

In 2010, Sinomach-HE invested $540 million to construct and operate a separate project, the Cambodian Tatay Hydropower Station, in the BOT mode. It now generates 858 million kilowatt hour per year on average and has more than met its annual power generation task for six years.

As a main power supplier in Cambodia, the hydropower station has exerted a major influence on developing clean energy, stabilizing electricity prices and promoting national economic construction in Cambodia and is a model of China-Cambodia cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The newly launched hydropower station, located at the upstream of the Tatay Hydropower Station, will work with the earlier one to realize the hydropower potential of the Cambodian Tatay River basin and further enhance the overall profitability and operating efficiency of Sinomach-HE.

Design drawing of the Upper Stung Tatay Hydropower Station [Photo/sh-jingjing.com]

As an important project of the BRI, the Upper Stung Tatay Hydropower Station will bring enormous economic and social benefits to Cambodia. It will meet the country’s urgent demand for electricity due to its rapid economic growth, and provide more powerful energy security for its economic development. The upper and lower reservoirs will cooperate to regulate the rapid inflow in the upper reaches during the rainy season as a more effective approach to flood control and disaster reduction.