The Cambodia-Australia Partnership for Resilient Economic Development (CAPRED), a flagship economic development program funded by the Australian government, will establish a solar electricity farm in Kampong Cham commune in Sambour district, Kratie province.

The Australian embassy announced in an April 22 social media post that the mini-off grid electricity would be supplied to four villages of the commune and benefit around 4,000 villagers. It said at many of them will have access to reliable electricity in their homes for the very first time.

The CAPRED team recently visited the commune, which located in a remote area.

The embassy said that over the last decade, Australia has supported Cambodia to supply sustainable, reliable and affordable electricity to many villages across the country.

“Our investment has connected 31,000 rural households in Cambodia to the national grid,” it said.

“Australia is also promoting renewable energy to help Cambodia’s reach its target of reducing current levels of CO2 emissions by 42 per cent before 2030,” it added.

It said CAPRED is working with the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the Electricity Authority of Cambodia and a private company to connect the remaining one per cent of rural villages that remain without electricity.