Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Son La (VNA) – Nearly 3,000 rural households in the northern mountainous province Son La will be connected to the national power grid under a project that started on January 12.
The targeted areas are 25 villages in four remote communes in the districts of Mai Son, Song Ma and Thuan Chau.
Under the project, more than 120 kilometres of cable and six transformers will be installed at a total cost of nearly 70 billion VND (3.12 million USD),
The majority of funding is being sourced from the Northern Power Company (NPC), while the local budget allocation of 2.5 billion VND (111,600 USD) aims to cover the site clearance cost.
Ha Van Dung, Chairman of the Chieng Bom commune People’s Committee in Thuan Chau district, one of the targeted areas, said the commune is one of the particularly disadvantaged areas in the province, with an impoverished household rate reaching 40 percent in 2015.
Connection to the national power grid will help improve the living conditions of local residents while facilitating their livelihood, Dung said.
As of the end of 2015, 86.7 percent of the Son La population have access to the national power supply. In the rural population the figure is 84.2 percent.
Another 8,300 rural households are expected to use the network in 2016.-VNA
