Prime Minister Hun Sen has called on the general public, hoteliers and businesspeople with generators to use them as back-up as the Electricity Authority of Cambodia cannot generate enough electricity to meet needs due to low water levels in power station reservoirs.
On Saturday evening at the 5th River Festival held in the Kampong Chhnang province under the theme River: Connecting Peace, People and Tourism, the prime minister said that while Cambodia has a lot of rivers and lakes, droughts in past years have brought down the levels of river tributaries, causing water shortages throughout the Kingdom.
“As of today, we lack up to 400MW in available electricity. I would like to call on those who have generators to use them in order to supply homes, hotels or places of operation,” the prime minister said.
‘Generators as back-up’
“The solution is to use these generators as back-up. Although it may be a bit more expensive, it is better than a total lack of electricity.”
Cambodia is currently waiting for a response from Turkey following a request to supply the Kingdom with back-up generators for the remainder of the dry season.
The prime minister said Cambodia largely uses hydroelectricity for power, but due to recent droughts, the Kingdom’s hydroelectric plants are generating less.
He asked people for their understanding if they experienced blackouts and called on them to use electricity sparingly.
“400MW is a great deal to be lacking at present. And it may go up even higher as waters are less and less able to supply the water turbines.”
Electricite Du Cambodge (EDC) director-general Keo Rattanak could not be reached for comment on Sunday.
An EDC technical official, who asked not to be named, said the current hot weather has significantly impacted reservoirs for the Kingdom’s hydroelectric dams.
“There are blackouts in areas around the country because water for the hydroelectric dams is limited,” he said.
