Most towns will be provided with new diesel generators to meet forecast demand up to the end of 2006. Others will be connected to existing or proposed transmission lines. In Kampot, new generating equipment will supplement the 1.3 megawatts of privately-operated generating equipment. In addition, the capacity of Electricit du Cambodge, executing agency for the project, will be strengthened and turned into a creditworthy utility. Economic growth in provincial towns is constrained by inadequate and high-priced electricity.
External interventions are necessary to produce needed improvements in electricity supply.
The country lacks adequate power everywhere except Kompong Cham, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, and Sihanoukville. In the needy provinces, private sector operators have neither the capital nor the creditworthiness to fund rehabilitation or expansion of their systems. As a result of the project, over 100,000 persons in 21,000 households will benefit from better electricity services. Between 2004 to 2010, an estimated 70,000 persons in 13,000 households will receive power supply for the first time. Power bills are expected to fall by about a quarter three years after project commissioning, an important consideration for the 30 percent of beneficiaries who live below the poverty line.