The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) has granted official licences approving two projects with a combined capital investment of $100 million in the energy sector, it said on Wednesday.

The projects are a $71 million power line network in Preah Sihanouk province developed by Schneitec Power Co Ltd and a $29 million solar power station in Pursat province developed by Schneitec Infinite Co Ltd that is capable of producing 30MW of electricity.

Both Schneitec Power and Schneitec Infinite are subsidiaries of Cambodian-Chinese company Schneitec Group. The CDC said the projects will create more than 100 jobs.

Ministry of Mines and Energy’s General Department of Energy director-general Victor Jona told The Post on Thursday that the group would be allowed to import construction materials tax-free.

He said Preah Sihanouk province needed to produce more than 100MW of electricity in total to meet demand.

“Preah Sihanouk province is rapidly developing its infrastructure, especially to aid commercial growth so we anticipate the project to be completed by early 2021,” he said, adding that it will be connected to coal-fired power plants in Steung Hav district.

Meanwhile, the solar power plant station project is expected to be completed by the end of 2020, he said.

Last week, the locally-owned Cambodia International Investment and Development Group (CIIDG) and China Huadian Hong Kong Co Ltd (CHDHK) broke ground on two jointly built coal plants in Preah Sihanouk province.

With a capital investment of some $1 billion, the facilities will be able to produce some 700MW of electricity by early 2023. Each power plant can produce 350MW.

The Kingdom consumed a total of 2,650MW of electricity last year, an increase of around 15 per cent over 2017, according to the Ministry of Mines and Energy.