Realizing rural electrification in Southeast Asia Lessons from Laos》.pdf

Energy for Sustainable Development 15 (2011) 41–48 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Energy for Sustainable Development Realizing rural electrification in Southeast Asia: Lessons from Laos Malavika Jain Bambawale, Anthony L. DAgostino, Benjamin K. Sovacool ⁎ Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: The Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, a least developed land-locked country in Southeast Asia, was able to Received 30 September 2010 quadruple its electrification rate from 16% in 1995 to 63% in 2009. This has been achieved due to a series of Revised 17 November 2010 projects undertaken by the government in conjunction with multilateral aid organizations. This study Accepted 17 November 2010 examines one such project undertaken recently by the Lao government and the World Bank called the Rural Available online 18 December 2010 Electrification Project Phase I (REP I). Based on field research and research interviews conducted in Laos, the focus of this study is to understand this projects design and implementation, key success factors, and Keywords: Rural electrification shortcomings. The authors derive lessons for both developing countries and those giving energy aid (such as Energy poverty multilateral financial institutions and development agencies) by laying ou