Over 2,300 households in Na Nghiu commune, Song Ma district in the mountainous northwestern province of Son La were hooked up to the national power grid on January 30, Son La Power Company reported.

Several new transmission lines, transformer stations and electricity meters have been installed by the company to bring power to local households.

Chairman of Na Nghiu commune’s People’s Committee Lo Van Xuan said the locality is one of the most impoverished communes in the district.

Over 2,000 households in Son La province gain electricity access prior Tet

To date, 25 out of 39 villages in the commune have access to the national power grid, helping to improve local living standards, he added.

The province now still has 527 off-grid villages with 36,965 households. It is aiming to connect an additional 8,300 rural households to the grid in 2016.

The Son La Power Company plans to provide electricity to 72 out of the 313 off-grid villages by the end of 2016.

Son La province aims to bring national power access to 98 percent of its ethnic minority villages by 2020.

The locality is home to the Son La Hydropower Plant, the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia; the Huoi Quang Hydropower Plant; and the Nam Chien Hydropower Plant. There are also 48 small-scale plants which have capacities of 3 to 30 megawatts.

The Son La Hydropower Plant has a designed capacity of 2,400 megawatts and is capable of generating nearly 10.25 trillion kWh per year.

Source: VNA