Giant coal plant taking shape in Sihanoukville

Nearly half of a massive 700-megawatt coal-fired power plant that will fuel the country’s biggest industrial park and feed the national grid is set to be completed by the end of the year, according to officials at the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

The plant, which was first approved in December of 2010, is a development between Cambodian People’s Party Senator Lao Meng Khin’s Cambodia International Investment Development Group (CIIDG) and the obscure Chinese-based Erdos Hongjun Electric Power Co – a company that has amassed most of its wealth in the cashmere industry.

The $383 million joint venture project operates under a 33-year build-own-operate (BOO) scheme in Stung Hav district of Preah Sihanouk province. Construction began in early 2012 and has been carried out quietly, with few aware of the thermal power station’s existence.

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