Cambodia: Chinese, Thai, Malaysian and Singaporean-invested wind farms spark Indigenous concerns over deforestation, farmland impacts and sacred sites, report says
"Indigenous communities fear impacts of Cambodian wind projects", Dialogue Earth, 28 August 2025
Cambodia is rushing toward wind energy with six new projects planned in Mondulkiri [...].
The Blue Circle, a Singapore-based company which has already developed three wind projects in Vietnam, initially proposed an 80 MW wind farm [...].
[...] the National Assembly has approved Kouprey Windfarm, the company’s 150-MW wind project in Mondulkiri. The name of the project was confirmed to Dialogue Earth by The Blue Circle’s CEO, Olivier Duguet.
[...] It also agreed to buy coal power from Laos, requiring construction of a transmission line through the heart of Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, one of Cambodia’s last dense forests.
SchneiTec and Leader Energy, as well as a company director representing HK Oasis, did not respond when contacted by Dialogue Earth [...].
Duguet claims his company is minimising the impact on nearby residents by building mainly on an existing rubber plantation, as well as a smaller portion of Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary that is zoned for “sustainable use”.
“I believe we’re the only one of the six [companies] who have this agreement with concession holders so we can be sure that no one is moving there and building their houses there,” he said.
The woman, speaking anonymously, [...] learned that a Chinese company called Beijing Fengguang Infinite Wind Energy was building stations to develop wind power. [...] expressed concern that the project may be constructed on land that is part of their rotational agriculture.
Him Udom, a director of Beijing Fengguang, told Dialogue Earth [...] that his company has not yet begun construction, and would not start until January 2027, with plans for completion in January 2029. He said the location was not yet confirmed, and added that the company could share more information about the project closer to the construction start date.
“If the [turbines] are installed, it will affect all the farmland we rely upon for growing rice, cassava, rubber, and other crops,” [...].