The Political Ecology of Chinese Large Dams in Cambodia: Implications, Challenges and Lessons Learnt from the Kamchay Dam

Giuseppina Siciliano,May Tan-Mullins,Frauke Urban,Lonn Pichdara,Sour Kim

doi:10.3390/w8090405

Abstract

Given the opportunities offered by foreign investment in energy infrastructure mostly by Chinese firms, the Government of Cambodia is giving high priority to developing hydropower resources for reducing energy poverty and powering economic growth. Using a “Political ecology of the Asian drivers” framework, this paper assesses China’s involvement in the development of large dams’ in Cambodia and its impacts on the access of natural resources such as water and energy by dam builders, local communities and the government. This analysis is based on 61 interviews and 10 focus group discussions with affected communities, institutional actors, Chinese dam builders and financiers in relation to the first large Chinese dam built in Cambodia: the Kamchay dam. Based on the results of the analysis this paper makes recommendations on how to improve the planning, implementation and governance of future large dams in Cambodia.

Highlights

This paper aims to explore the political ecology of Chinese large hydropower dams in Cambodia, the implications, challenges and lessons learnt from the Kamchay dam, Cambodia’s first dam.Cambodia’s electricity production is far below the country needs and imports exceed by far the internal production [1], the country relies heavily on energy and electricity imports, mainly from neighbouring countries, such as Thailand and Vietnam
With respect to other studies published by the authors on China’s engagement in large dams in Cambodia [29,30,31] this paper looks for the first time from a Political ecology of the Asian Drivers Perspective at how different channels of interactions between Chinese dam builders and Cambodian authorities have had an influence in the altered human-environment interactions and on the distribution of costs and benefits between different beneficiaries
This section assesses the negative and positive impacts of the Kamchay dam construction and its implications over the access and use of natural resources such as water and energy by local communities. This analysis is linked to the Political Ecology of the Asian Drivers framework by assessing the altered society-environment relationships associated with changes in the physical environment caused by the construction of the Kamchay dam

Summary

Introduction

This paper aims to explore the political ecology of Chinese large hydropower dams in Cambodia, the implications, challenges and lessons learnt from the Kamchay dam, Cambodia’s first dam.Cambodia’s electricity production is far below the country needs and imports exceed by far the internal production [1], the country relies heavily on energy and electricity imports, mainly from neighbouring countries, such as Thailand and Vietnam. This paper aims to explore the political ecology of Chinese large hydropower dams in Cambodia, the implications, challenges and lessons learnt from the Kamchay dam, Cambodia’s first dam. Given the opportunities offered by the country’s topography of mountain valleys, fast-flowing streams and powerful rivers, as well as foreign investment in energy infrastructure mostly by Chinese firms, the Government of Cambodia is giving high priority to developing hydropower resources with the aim of providing energy access, reducing energy poverty, powering economic growth, increasing energy security and reducing electricity prices [4]. The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) and the Mekong River Commission (MRC) estimate that the country’s technically exploitable hydropower capability is about 10,000 MW [1,5]. Ten percent of the potential was under construction in 2011, and an additional 2200 MW is in planning [6]

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