China Eximbank provides $15.5 million export seller's credit for 12MW Kirirom I Hydropower Plant Rehabilitation Project (Linked to Project ID#32202)

On December 9, 2000, China Eximbank provided a $15.5 million export seller's credit to China Electric Power Technology Import & Export Corporation (CETIC) for the 12MW Kirirom I Hydropower Plant Rehabilitation Project. The credit was disbursed in an RMB 91.5 million tranche and a $4.5 million tranche. The purpose of this $19.24 million project was to rehabilitate the Kirirom I Hydropower Plant, which is located in the Kirirom National Park of Koh Kong Province. The Kirirom I Hydropower Plant is linked to Phnom Penh by a 120 km long, 115kV transmission line. It supplies electricity to Kampong Speu Province and Phnom Penh. The Kirirom I Hydropower Plant was originally built in 1968 with support from Yugoslavia. In 1975, under the Khmer Rouge regime, the power plant fell into disrepair and electricity production stopped. In 1999, China Electric Power Technology Import & Export Corporation (CETIC) — a Chinese state-owned enterprise — was contracted to re-build the power plant at a cost of $24 million under a 30-year build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement. CETIC then signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Electricité du Cambodge (EDC) on July 28, 2000. The rehabilitation project commenced on April 2, 2001. This project was completed and plant put into operation on May 29, 2002. The total installed capacity of the rehabilitated plant was 12,000 kilowatts, and its average annual power generation is 53 million kilowatt-hours. The plant generated about 46.5GWh, 43.3GWh and 44.4GWh in 2007, 2008 and 2009, respectively. Under the terms of the BOT agreement, CETIC agreed to operate the plant for 30 years before handing it over to the Government Cambodia.

Additional details

1. The Chinese project title is 基里隆I号水电站. 2. Under the terms of the BOT agreement, the Government of Cambodia granted CETIC the exclusive rights to (a) develop, design, finance, rehabilitate, construct, own, operate, maintain, and manage the existing and newly constructed facilities of the Kirirom 1 hydropower plant with a capacity of 12 MW; (b) develop, design, finance, and construct transmission facilities and then transfer the plant to EDC after completion of commission; and (c) sell to EDC all generated electricity from Kirirom under a 30-year PPA. 3. CETIC was also involved in a subsequent, China Eximbank-financed expansion of the same power plant (see Project ID#32202).

Number of official sources

7

Number of total sources

22