The Huadian Preah Sihanouk coal-fired power plant in Cambodia on Friday passed a commissioning test successfully and was officially put into operation, becoming the largest power generation project in the country.

Huadian Preah Sihanouk 2×350 MW Coal-fired Power Plant in Preah Sihanouk province, Cambodia. (Photo: China Huadian Corporation)

The Huadian Preah Sihanouk 2×350 MW Coal-fired Power Plant in Cambodia (HSPGC Power Plant) under China's Huadian Overseas Investment Co., Ltd. said in a statement that the plant has adopted Chinese standards, technology and equipment with an installed capacity of 2×350 megawatts (MW).

"It is the coal-fired power plant with the largest installed capacity, the most advanced indicators, and the highest environmental protection level in Cambodia," it said.

"The full operation of HSPGC is of great significance for improving Cambodia's power supply structure and perfecting Cambodia's power infrastructure," it said.

The construction of the plant, located in southwest Cambodia's Preah Sihanouk province, took 27 months from August 2020 to November 2022.

Energy demand in Cambodia had surged to 4,014 MWs in 2021, an increase of 1 percent from 3,972 MWs in the year before, according to the Electricity Authority of Cambodia (EAC).

Some 3,033 MWs were generated locally by hydroelectric dams, coal-fired power plants, diesel-fired power plants, solar power plants and biomass power plants, and 981 MWs were imported from neighboring Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, the EAC said.