Mondulkiri, one of the 24 provinces and cities of the Kingdom of Cambodia, is located about 382km northeast of Phnom Penh, adjacent to Stung Treng and Kratie provinces of Cambodia and three provinces of Vietnam: Dak Lak, Dak Nong and Binh Phuoc. Mondulkiri province has an area of 14,288 km2 and a population of 65,000 people. The administrative center of Mondulkiri province is Senmonorom city. The province has vast areas of forestry and various natural resources. The climate is cool all year round, with many similarities to Dak Nong. Mondulkiri's strengths are in the fields of ecotourism and cultural tourism.
January 2020 marks the 8th anniversary of the power supply investment project for Mondulkiri province (Cambodia). The power supply system to Mondulkiri province starts from Dak Song 110kV substation, the 22kV main grid from the substation to Bu Prang border gate is 200km long and from this gate to the province's load system is about 45km. Over the past 8 years, the project has made continuous efforts to improve the service quality to meet the needs of Cambodia's socio-economic development and ensure political and defense security along the border of the two countries, especially for the needs of daily life, production and business activities of the people in Mondulkiri.
Dak Nong electrician workers and Mondulkiri officials agreed on the working record and worked together to deal with metering failures.
Previously, when there was no power supply from Dak Nong, Mondulkiri province had only one diesel-powered power plant, so it only supplied power to a small population living in the center of the province and the businesses located in the area. Since EVN has provided power services in Mondulkiri, many residential areas in the province have been supplied with power, the development of production and business is much more convenient. After a long time of power use, Mondulkiri people appreciate the power supply from Vietnam.
According to the assessment, up to now, the power grid system to Mondulkiri province has become stable, the power quality and revenue has been constantly increasing over the years. In 2012, the electricity output for Mondulkiri reached 0.8 million kWh; in 2013 reached 1.7 million kWh; in 2014 reached 2.6 million kWh; in 2015 reached 3.5 million kWh; in 2016 reached 4.4 million kWh; in 2017 reached 5.3 million kWh; in 2018 reached 5.8 million kWh, in 2019 the electricity output reached more than 8.1 million kWh, an increase of 132% over the same period in 2018, an increase of more than 10 times compared to that of 2012. The revenue in 2019 reached nearly VND 22 billion. This is a great effort made by Electricity of Vietnam in implementing the project, as well as contributing to building up solidarity and friendship between the two neighbouring countries, especially localities along the two borders.
The electricity price of Mondulkiri province is also relatively preferential. The average price in 2019 converted at VND is 2,597 VND/kWh. This is a very competitive price compared to that of power generation plants in Mondulkiri. Along with a good management and operation of the system, Electricity of Vietnam has focused on surveying and developing the investment and upgrading plan for the grid system to ensure an adequate power supply for daily and production activities of Mondulkiri people. This is an important task, helping to expand the grid system of Mondulkiri province and at the same time serve the power needs of the people, while fostering the friendship between Dak Nong and Mondulkiri provinces as well as Vietnam and Cambodia.
Up to now, in order to continue improving the project quality, Dak Nong PC has been constructing nearly 4 km of medium voltage lines; renovating and upgrading more than 5.5 km of medium voltage lines while installing lightning protection systems and a number of modern electric switching and breaking equipment. The total investment for the work items is nearly VND 9 billion. It is expected that the construction and upgrade will be completed in the first quarter of 2020.
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Director of Dak Nong PC said: "improving and upgrading the power supply system to Mondulkiri shall improve grid stability, minimize power loss, and promptly serve the growing power needs of the people of Mondulkiri. This is an important political task and honor entrusted to PC Dak Nong by the Vietnam Electricity Group, the Central Power Corporation, the Provincial Party Committee and the People's Committee of Dak Nong Province. Therefore, the political awareness and responsibility of the Power sector during the implementation of the project is always ensured in terms of prestige and quality to contribute to further developing the friendly relationship between Dak Nong and Mondulkiri".