Another 90,000 people have bidden farewell to a life without electricity in the rural areas of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region this year, local authorities said Sunday.

The regional government plans to invest 2.5 billion yuan (US$367.6 million) to help 510,000 rural people gain access to electricity during the 2008-2011 period, said Gao Yingyun, vice general manager of the Tibet Electric Power Co. Ltd..

To date, local authorities have invested 1.7 billion yuan and provided power to 280,000 farmers and herdsmen, Gao said.

"But there are still 800,000 people in the countryside have difficulties in gaining access to electricity," he said.

"We will take further measures to expand power grid," he added.

(Xinhua News Agency December 20, 2009)