By 2020, 95 per cent of households in Laos will have access to electricity, according to Khammany Inthirath, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Lao News Agency reported.
Mr Khammany said currently around 89 percent of households across the country have had access to electricity. The government considers supplying electricity and fuel as a priority for socio-economic development and the eradication of poverty.
The government also has the plan to develop the country into the ‘battery of Asean’ due to its location and its hydropower potential, he said.
Mr Khammany pledged to further supply sustainable electricity with reasonable prices, aiming to improve people’s living conditions and stimulate investment and sustainable development. The living conditions of Lao people nationwide have gradually improved due to the expansion of the electricity network.
In 1995, Laos was only generating 210 megawatts per year but now has the capacity to generate 5,047 megawatts annually which was done in response to the government’s aspiration for Laos to become the battery of Asean in the future.
There are high voltage transmission lines connecting the northern provinces to the central ones. The transmission lines connecting central Laos to the southern provinces will be completed at the beginning of next year.
Once electricity is successfully being supplied, the ministry will introduce measures to teach locals how to create income by producing goods with electricity.
Most electricity in Laos is generated by hydropower which contributes significantly to both local and remote development as well as to national revenue from the selling of electricity each year.
Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/ninety-five-per-cent-of-households-in-laos-to-have-electricity-by-2020
