Sample Botum Sakor power station

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Botum Sakor power station is a permitted power station in Thmar Sa Village, Botum Sakor, Koh Kong, Cambodia. It is also known as 波东沙哥煤电站 and Royal Group power station.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Botum Sakor power station	Thmar Sa Village, Botum Sakor, Koh Kong, Cambodia	10.8929, 103.3898 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

Loading map...

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

• Unit 1: 10.892928, 103.389776
• Unit 2: 10.892928, 103.389776

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name	Status	Fuel(s)	Capacity (MW)	Technology	Start year	Retired year
Unit 1	permitted	-	350 MW	-	2025 (planned)	-
Unit 2	permitted	-	350 MW	-	2025 (planned)	-

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name	Operator	Owner	Parent
Unit 1	-	Botum Sakor Energy Co Ltd	Royal Group
Unit 2	-	Botum Sakor Energy Co Ltd	Royal Group

Project-level coal details

• Coal source: Imported

Financing

• Source of financing:

Background on Plant

In October 2016, the Cambodian government began reviewing a feasibility study for a 400 to 500 MW coal plant prepared by Royal Group. If approved the plant would be built in Stung Hav district. Feasibility reports for a coal plant in Cambodia by Royal Group go as far back as 2007.

A 2018 Royal Group presentation stated the company was planning a coal plant of 500 MW in Sihanoukville at an estimated cost of US$860 million. Discussions with Chinese investors were reportedly ongoing.

In June 2019, Royal Group asked for permission to expand the project’s capacity to 700 MW citing increased power demand, and the company was granted permission that month. The expansion required a new project feasibility study, which was estimated to take 18 to 20 months to complete before it could be submitted to the government for approval.

In February 2020, plant sponsor Royal Group and Chinese firm Sinosteel Equipment & Engineering Co., Ltd. were licensed to jointly construct the 700 MW plant in southwest Koh Kong province with an investment cost of US$1.34 billion.

The government donated 168 hectares in Botum Sakor National Park in Koh Kong to the Royal Group to build the coal plant after re-classifying the land as private property.

According to China Dialogue, land clearing began by October 2020 resulting in displacement. No environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the project was made public.

In November 2020, Sinosteel of China signed a US$1.1 billion contract with Royal Group to build the coal plant on a "Build, Own and Operate" (BOO) basis. The power station was planned for operation in 2023-2024.

Botum Sakor Energy Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the Royal Group, obtained the go-ahead from the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) on December 8, 2020 for the power station. The Royal Group also received government approval to build a special economic zone (SEZ) on 100 sq km in the national park, in Botum Sakor district’s southernmost Ta Noun and Thma Sar communes.

As of January 2021, a ministry spokesperson noted that everything was on schedule and that the company had prepared the land surface for the upcoming facility construction.

In June 2021, the company received in-principle approval from the government to dredge sand in the Prek Sre Ambel River to fill some of the areas in the company’s SEZ and power station development projects.

Imagery on Planet appeared to show the land clearing progress in late 2020/early 2021. As of September 2021 and December 2021, preliminary construction appeared underway. The People’s Map of Global China provides additional information on the project and project location.

In July 2021, the project was reportedly behind schedule. Construction was reportedly approximately 10% complete according to a senior official at the Ministry of Mines and Energy. The completion date was pushed back to 2025.

In October 2021, Cambodia announced that they would not develop any future coal schemes, with the exception of three proposed projects. The Botum Sakor power station in Koh Kong was among those three.

There was no apparent update on the progress of the plant between July 2021 and July 2022. However, Planet imagery from that time period showed that some forward progress had been made.

In September 2022, the special economic zone and associated power station were mentioned in a Greenpeace Thailand report with a scheduled operation date in 2025.

In June 2023, there were no apparent updates on the construction of the power station.

Land compensation

Reports stated the project would cover an area of 168 hectares in Botum Sakor and affect 58 families who would be required to relocate. There were conflicting reports regarding the degree to which affected families accepted compensation: on July 29, 2020, Khmer Times reported that all 58 families had accepted compensation, while on July 28, 2020, provincial media stated only 26 had accepted.

Financing

In February 2020, Cambodia Express News reported that the plant and transmission infrastructure were being financed by 30% company equity and 70% loan, at an interest rate of 6.5%, but did not state who was providing the loan.

The signing of the BOO contract with Sinosteel appeared to change the financing arrangement. Sinosteel was likely to provide equity financing for the project. Royal Group and Sinosteel were also reportedly seeking Chinese lenders to provide debt financing. According to the agreement signed between Sinosteel and Royal Group, the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract would not become active until financial close is reached.

As of October 2021, there was no information available that the project had reached financial close.

Coal source

As of 2020, the plant was expected to run on imported coal, and the development plan included a jetty for docking and offloading imported coal.

Threat to national park

Environmental activists have said that the area has tremendous potential for industries like sustainable fishing and ecotourism led by people in the community. They are concerned that developing a coal plant and new special economic zone (SEZ) within the lush Botum Sakor National Park will kill the region's potential. One activist noted: “This is basically the final nail in the coffin for this national park, which used to be the largest in the country [and has] phenomenal wildlife.”

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.