Cambodia is planning to substitute insufficient hydropower in the nation with coal-fired power plants. The initiative includes a 700 MW coal-fired facility funded by Sinosteel in Koh Kong province’s concession-covered Botum Sakor National Park and a 265 MW coal-fired plant created by a Cambodian business in Oddar Meanchey province.
The nation has also agreed to acquire 2,400 MW of coal-generated plant from Laos.
Due to the drought-driven shortages the country is facing, the new coal-fired plants are expected to provide a more secure power supply regardless of weather conditions. However, this means that the nation will have to face worse air pollution.
In 2020, The Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia forecasted that the carbon emission in Cambodia would rise from 3 million tonnes of carbon equivalent in 2020 to 25 million in 2050 should the nation continue to embrace coal-powered energy.
