The Cambodian government yesterday offered a subsidy on equipment to private electricity distributors in an effort to expand the Kingdom’s limited power grid.

Private power suppliers who have completed between 70 to 80 per cent of their planned investments in electricity networks can request subsidies on wire from the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy, Minister Suy Sem said yesterday at an Electricity Authority of Cambodia meeting.

The move came after Cambodia considerably increased its power supply earlier this month. The country added a 193-megawatt hydroelectric dam to its existing 500-megawatt power network on December 7, and intends to have several other hydro projects with a capacity of more than 700 megawatts online by 2015.

The ministry will broker deals with a Korean-owned, Cambodian-based wire manufacturing company, Suy Sem said. However, he did not provide the name of the company. “If you [private suppliers] have requests, I will take them to discuss directly with the owner of the company,” he said.

Ty Norin, chairman of the Electricity Authority of Cambodia, said at the meeting that Cambodia’s dependency on imported energy from Thailand and Vietnam was dangerous and that the Kingdom must resolve its own power needs.

Cambodia will need US$1 billion in energy investments before 2030 to expand its energy network to every village in the county, he said, adding that Cambodia imports 60 per cent of its power.