China Eximbank provides $84.9 million preferential buyer's credit for Phases 5 and 6 of Rural Grid Extension Project (Linked to Project ID#32216, #62326, #62331)

On October 13, 2016, China Eximbank and the Government of Cambodia's Ministry of Finance signed a $84,982,500 preferential buyer's credit (PBC) agreement for Phases 5 and 6 of the Rural Grid Expansion Project. The PBC carried the following terms: 20-year maturity, 7-year grace period, and 2% interest rate. The proceeds of the PBC were to be used by the borrower to partially finance a $100 million EPC (commercial) contract between Electricite du Cambodge (EDC) — the country’s state-owned electricity utility — and China National Heavy Machinery Corporation (CHMC), which was signed on March 30, 2016. The fifth and sixth phases of the project, which covered 11 provinces in Cambodia, involved the construction of one 2525 km medium-voltage transmission line; the installation of pole-mounted equipment; the construction of two new 115kV substations, the construction of a 22km, 115kV high-voltage transmission line that connects the two substations; and an expansion of the Sihanoukville substation. The ultimate purpose of the project was to improve the power supply situation in various provinces and cities and provide power to 50,000 families in no-power-supply areas. CHMC was the EPC contractor responsible for implementation. Construction began on December 13, 2016, and the project completed on August 30, 2019. Phases 5 and 6 were completed about 6 months ahead of the schedule.

Additional details

1. The Chinese project title is 柬埔寨农村电网扩建工程五、六期项目. 2. In the Overseas Development Finance Dataset that Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center published in December 2020, it identifies the face value of the loan that supported Phases 5 and 6 as $100 million. AidData relies on the face value ($84,982,500) that is recorded in the Government of Cambodia’s aid and debt information management system, which is maintained on behalf of all ministries and agencies of the Royal Government of Cambodia by the Cambodian Rehabilitation and Development Board (CRDB) of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC). 3. China Eximbank also financed Phases 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the Rural Grid Extension Project. Phase 1 is captured via Project ID#32216. Phase 2 is captured via Project ID#62326. Phases 3 and 4 are captured via Project ID#62331.

Number of official sources

14

Number of total sources

16