Description

Cambodia’s power infrastructure suffered from years of neglect because of nearly 3 decades of war and political instability. The generation and distribution facilities were in poor condition due to their age and lack of proper maintenance. System losses were very high, and reliability and quality of power supply were inadequate. Adequate electricity systems were absent in the whole of the country except in Kompong Cham, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, and Sihanoukville. Economic growth in the provincial towns was constrained by inadequate and high-priced electricity systems. The provincial towns are the immediate markets, transport depots, and processing centers for provincial agricultural products. As agricultural productivity and per capita incomes rise, demand for electricity from residential customers and small enterprises is expected to steadily increase. Private electricity suppliers in the country were inefficient and small, and used old equipment. Without public sector involvement, improvements in electricity supply were unlikely to happen.

ADB support was based on its past support in rehabilitating the country’s power infrastructure in phases. ADB initially focused on providing emergency generation and distribution facilities in Phnom Penh. This was followed by the rehabilitation of electricity systems in Phnom Penh and in the two important provincial towns of Siem Reap and Sihanoukville. This Provincial Power Supply Project was formulated to address issues in other major provincial towns.

This report validates the completion report’s assessment of the project which aims to expand the availability of reliable power supply in eight provincial towns and villages in Cambodia. IED overall assessment: Less than successful

Contents

• Project Basic Data
• Project Description
• Evaluation of Performance and Ratings
• Other Performance Assessments
• Overall Assessment, Lessons, and Recommendations
• Other considerations and Follow-up