First solar power project expected to be fully operational at month-end

Cambodia’s first large-scale solar power project in Bavet is still in the trial stage, but is expected to be fully operationally at the end of this month. Victor Jona, the director-general of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, said the testing period lasts from Aug 15 to 31, and that it is the first solar project to be linked to the nation’s power grid. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) financially backed Singapore’s Sunseap Group’s project, providing Sunseap Asset (Cambodia) with a debt financing package of $9.2mn to build the solar power project under a long-term agreement with the state-run energy utility Electricite Du Cambodge (EDC). According to an ADB report, the solar farm has an installed capacity of 10MW and will be able to meet roughly a quarter of Bavet’s local energy demand, half of which is now being met through power imports from Vietnam. (Source: Khmer Times)