The Council of Ministers on Wednesday said it will review a proposed 150MW hydropower project on the upper reaches of the Tatai River in Koh Kong province’s northern Thma Bang district.

Proposals for a 500kV transmission line connecting Phnom Penh to the Cambodia-Lao border and another one linking Battambang province with the Cambodian-Thai border will also be on the agenda when the Council of Ministers convenes on Friday.

Victor Jona, the director-general of the Ministry of Mines and Energy’s General Department of Energy, told The Post that the proposals were submitted to the Council of Ministers following completion of their associated environmental and social impact assessments.

He voiced his approval for the project and said minister Suy Sem would back it at the meeting.

He said one of the transmission lines would deliver electricity from a coal-fired power plant in Laos, as outlined in a purchase agreement that Cambodia signed last year. The other line would import power from Thailand.

“We will first seek approval at the Council of Ministers meeting. Then, we will negotiate investment costs and project implementation agreements that will be signed between the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the company.

“This is in addition to the power transmission fee that state-run energy supplier Electricite du Cambodge [EdC] will negotiate with the company,” he said.

Provincial deputy governor Sok Sothy told The Post in June that the hydropower project will be built by the Chinese state-owned China National Heavy Machinery Corp (CNHM) at a cost of $380 million and will supply Koh Kong and neighbouring provinces.http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/cabinet-reviews-150mw-hydropower-project