Cheay Areng Dam was a proposed 108 MW

hydroelectric dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

on Areng river in Koh Kong Province, southwest of

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

. China Guodian Corporation once intended to build the dam. Sinohydro Resources Ltd, a holding company for

Sinohydro Sinohydro (Chinese: 中国水电; long form: 中国水利水电建设集团公司) is a Chinese state-owned hydropower engineering and construction company. In the 2012 Engineering News-Record Top 225 Global Contractors, a ranking by annual reve ...

Group, was granted approval in February 2014 for six months of extensive drilling, geological mapping and prospecting in the dam concession. The project was shelved in 2017 by Prime Minister

Hun Sen Hun Sen (; km, ហ៊ុន សែន, ; born 5 August 1952) is a Cambodian politician and former military commander who has served as the prime minister of Cambodia since 1985. He is the longest-serving head of government of Cambodia, and o ...

due to a strong local opposition to the dam. A new coal plant will be constructed in Preah Sihanouk as a compensation.

Environmental and social concerns

Cheay Areng Dam was to be built in the Central Cardamom Protected Forest (CCPF), largest unbroken tract of woodland in Southeast Asia, covering 4,013 km². This area, made up of a series of adjoining national parks, hosts a high

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

including 31 endangered animal species, among which the world’s second-largest population of wild

Siamese crocodile The Siamese crocodile (''Crocodylus siamensis'') is a medium-sized freshwater crocodile native to Indonesia (Borneo and possibly Java), Brunei, East Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The species is critically endangered an ...

. Furthermore, the dam would flow a 20 km² area from which 1500 Chong indigenous people would have to be relocated.

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monks and villagers are against the project. , local residents continue to oppose construction of the dam, which would provide power principally to neighboring countries.

References

{{stack, {{Portal, Cambodia, Water, Renewable energy
Hydroelectric power stations in Cambodia Dams in Cambodia Koh Kong province Cancelled hydroelectric power stations Dam controversies