Cambodian ambassador to South Korea Long Dimanche (second left) meets with GGGI president and chairman Ban Ki-moon. Photo supplied
The Seoul-headquartered treaty-based international organisation Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) has given the green light for the Cambodian government to submit a budget request for a waste-to-energy project at Phnom Penh’s Dangkor landfill.
Cambodian ambassador to South Korea Long Dimanche told The Post this on Wednesday.
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This comes after a meeting held last week between Dimanche and former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, who is currently the GGGI president and chairman.
Dimanche quoted Ban as saying he will support the government in the project and promised to work with the Kingdom to provide a sustainable waste-management solution for the notorious landfill in Baku village in the capital’s southern Dangkor district.
“GGGI has a number of budgets that can help Cambodia manage waste by converting it into clean energy.
“He [Ban] told Cambodia to make a proposal to the GGGI and that he would consider it.
“I have already submitted a report to Minister of Foreign Affairs [and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn] for review and consideration.
“GGGI is also pleased to assist Cambodia in providing consulting, technical assistance and additional waste-management policies,” he said.
Victor Jona, director-general of the Ministry of Mines and Energy’s Department of Energy, told The Post that he welcomed and supported the GGGI and the opportunity it presented for the government.
The energy ministry in the past has allowed private companies to conduct feasibility studies for waste-incineration plants, but high production costs put an end to all government hopes to invest in a suitable project.
Citing the studies, he said electricity prices from a waste-burning plant would be in the range of $0.14-$0.15 per kWh.
The government is actively seeking private partners to invest in waste-to-energy plants, he said. Such a project would set the Kingdom back hundreds of millions of dollars.
State-run energy supplier “Electricite du Cambodge [EdC] is preparing to put the project up for bid”, he said.
Cambodia generates more than 10,000 tonnes of waste per day, or nearly four million tonnes per year, the Ministry of Environment reported at the end of last year. Phnom Penh alone produces 3,000 tonnes daily.
The ministry said 65 per cent is solid organic waste, while 20 per cent is plastic waste.
