While Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos have all recently announced or collaborated with regional partners on schemes to bring more capacity online to this power hungry region, Cambodia has taken a big step forward to join this list. The World Bank has announced that it will grant $18.5 million USD in funds to allow for hydro power developments in Cambodia.
A major feature of this will also be power transmission lines to improve the grid capabilities in the region. This is seen as a critical step forward allowing for the regions countries to more efficiently trade power. Power is often seen as a bottleneck to economic growth and there are still vast areas of the region which do not enjoy readily available access to power. The scheme would also mirror a similar initiative which is underway in India and the surrounding countries to trade power. Plans are for a transmission line from Laos to Cambodia and in the future perhaps from Vietnam as well.
Another step will be to study possibilities for new hydro power plants; this study will be conducted by the International Development Agency and the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy of Cambodia. Total costs for the projects are projected to be $20 million USD with $1.5 million USD coming from the government of Cambodia.
