Renovation of Kirirom Hydropower Station in Cambodia StartedCambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen Monday presided over an opening ceremony of the renovation of the Kirirom Hydropower Station and construction of an electric transmission line between Kirirom and Phnom Penh, invested by the China Electric Power Technology Import and Export Corporation.The project in the model of BOT (Built-Operate-Transfer) was signed by the Chinese company and the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy of Cambodia in July 2000, with a total investment of 20 million U. S. dollars. Hun Sen told the opening ceremony that the investment of the Chinese company, attached to the State Power Corporation of China, has indicated that Chinese companies have more confidence in the situation and development in the country, stressing that private investment has increasingly become a driving force in the Cambodian economic growth. It has also indicated that private companies can invest in hydropower projects in Cambodia, he added. Hun Sen noted that Cambodia enjoys rich hydropower resources and the Royal government has given priority to development of hydropower stations, saying that the government welcomes foreign firms to invest in the area. The Kirirom Hydropower Station is located in Kompong Speu province, some 110 kilometers southwest of Phnom Penh, first constructed with the aid from Yugoslavia and destroyed due to the long-term civil war since the 1970s in Cambodia. The project for renovation of the hydropower station with a total installed capacity of 12 megawatt (MW) and the construction of the electric transmission line is expected to be completed within two years. |
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