6th China-built hydropower dam in Cambodia starts operation

The sixth China-built hydropower plant, located in the Koh Kong province of southwestern Cambodia, has begun producing electricity after more than four- year construction, the China National Heavy Machinery Corporation (CHMC) said in a statement on Thursday.

CHMC started to develop the 246-megawatt Tatay River Hydropower Plant in 2010. The dam comprises three generators, each is capable to produce the power of 82 megawatts, the statement said.

"One of the generators began operation on Wednesday as the construction of the remaining two generators is still going on," it said.

"The dam's operation will contribute to developing economic activities and reducing electricity shortage in Cambodia."

The statement said CHMC's president Lu Wenjun has recently visited the plant and commended Chinese and Cambodian engineers and workers for their efforts to construct the dam.

CHMC invested 540 million US dollars to build the dam, which is a concessional contract of a 42-year build-operate-transfer ( BOT). Under the deal, the plant sells power to the state-owned Electricity of Cambodia.

China is the largest investor in building hydroelectric dams in Cambodia. According to the Cambodian Ministry of Mines and Energy, Chinese companies have invested over 1.6 billion US dollars to construct six hydroelectric dams in Cambodia with the total capacity of 928 megawatts.

So far, all six dams have come into operations.