Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Asean set to sign power grid pact
KUALA LUMPUR - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will sign a pact to set up a power grid amid rising oil prices and surging demand for energy, reports said yesterday.
The deal will be signed at an Asean energy ministers meeting in Vien-tiane in July to develop the grid which will connect member countries, said the Star daily.
Surplus power
Asean groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Under the plan, a country can sell surplus power to a neighboring country in the event of a power failure through soon-to-be built transmission lines, the New Straits Times said.
Che Khalib Mohamad Noh, chief executive of Malaysia’s state-owned power firm Tenaga, said Asean was compelled into hastening the power grid amid rising oil prices and growing demand for energy.
Funding would be provided by the Asian Development Bank and Japan Bank of International Cooperation, he added.
Indonesia’s Transmission and Distribution director Herman Darnel Ibrahim said power connection could be realized by 2011. (AFP)
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