The government has approved an additional 135-megawatt coal-fired plant to be built in Preah Sihanouk province, a Ministry of Mines and Energy representative said yesterday.

“The 135-megawatt coal fired power plant in Sihanoukville is an additional installed capacity to substitute for the Stung Cheay Areng Hydro project,” ministry spokesman Victor Jona said. “The plant will be in operation by 2020.”

The government has decided that Malaysian-owned Cambodia Energy Limited (CEL) was the preferred bidder for the project, beating out CIIDG Erdos Hongjun Electric Power, according to a post made to Facebook on Friday by Council of Minister’s spokesman Phay Siphan.

Currently, CEL operates a 100-megawat coal-fired plant in the coastal province while CIIDG is aiming to bring its capacity up to 405-megawatts sometime this year.