Power for development-electricity in the Third World

Electrical power is a vital prerequisite for any modern economy. Even in the least developed countries, the availability of a reliable power supply at reasonable cost is important for economic growth and development. The critical issue is that the demand for electrical power in developing countries keeps expanding faster than the growth of supply, which is constrained by financial, technical and manpower-related impediments. The author describes this issue in detail. Many developing countries´ power systems suffer from unbalanced investments, with overcapacity in generation coexisting with serious underinvestment in distribution. The author discusses the ways in which these problems can be overcome