World Bank: power access in Cambodia spreads but reliability problem persists

According to the report called “Cambodia Beyond Connections: The Energy Access Diagnostic Based on a Multi-Tier Framework” released by the World Bank, access to grid electricity has expanded to 71.5% of households, but the reliability problem persists with nearly two-thirds of households having access to grid facing frequent power shortages. Nationwide, nearly 90% of Cambodian households have access to at least four hours of electricity a day, the report says. Meanwhile, 30% of rural households rely on off-grid power for electricity, including solar power systems, solar lanterns, and rechargeable batteries, the report adds. It highlights reliability (outages) and quality (voltage fluctuation) of grid electricity supply as the greatest challenges the country is facing. More than half of grid electrified households experienced over 14 outages per week—on average for about 6 minutes. Also, 33% of grid users said they experienced major voltage fluctuations. Reliability and quality issues were more severe among rural grid-connected households. (Source: Khmer Times)