Cambodia Imports Power from Laos’ Don Sahong Dam

• Sommana Yan
• 26 March 2020
• Uncategorized
• 4549 Views

The Don Sahong hydropower dam, located in the southern area of Laos near the border of Cambodia, has started exporting power to Cambodia as planned just in time for Cambodia being in need of power supply for the dry season.

“Initially, only 130MW of power is imported from the dam based on the actual demand in Cambodia,” said Victor Jona, Director-General of Energy at the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

The power is transmitted via the transmission line from the dam to the Cambodia-Laos border, then transmitted to Phnom Penh from Stung Treng province.
“It depends on demand. If our demand is low, when we import too much, we will end up with a surplus of power because we do not only buy electricity from Laos. We also have domestic electricity generation as well as other power imports from other countries,” said Mr Jona.

Importing power from the Don Sahong dam is made under the power purchase agreement between Don Sahong Dam Hydropower Company in Laos and Cambodia’s Electricity Authority (EDC).

The power tariff in the agreement is US$0.073 per kilowatt-hour.

The US$500-million dam in Laos was invested in by Malaysia’s Mega First Corporation Berhad and EDL-Generation Public Company. The dam was built in 2016 on the Mekong River in Laos’s southern Champasak province, just two kilometres north of Cambodia.

• Energy and Environment