Hydroelectric power project gathers pace in Xayaboury
Vientiane Times, By Phonsavanh Vongsay
(Latest Update November 27, 2008)
 A group of Thai developers is one step closer to building a hydropower plant with an installed capacity of 1,260 megawatts (MW) in Xayaboury province.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment signed a project development agreement with Ch Karnchang Public Company Limited and PT Construction & Irrigation Company Limited of Thailand on Tuesday in Vientiane.
The agreement was signed after the developers had completed a feasibility study under the Xayaboury Hydroelectric Power Project and concluded its outlook was promising, according to a press release.
The developers signed a memorandum of understanding with the Lao government in May last year to conduct a survey and feasibility study.
Project construction costs are expected to be about 22 trillion kip (more than US$2.5 billion or 90 billion Thai baht), according to the press release.
From the initial study, the project will be a run-of-river dam development, to be located on the Mekong River in Xayaboury district. It will also cover an area of Nan district in Luang Prabang province.
Under the new contract, the developers will conduct further studies and preparations over the next two years, after which concession, construction and other related contracts will be executed.
Ch Karnchang Company Limited Chief Executive Officer, Mr Plew Trivisavet, said developers would start preparatory construction work for the project in early 2010, and were expected to complete construction within seven to eight years, with partial opening phases.
The investors will be granted the right to operate the project under a concession contract for 27 years, with the right to extend the concession for two five-year periods.
The plant's 10 turbine units will supply a total energy output of about 7,400 gigawatt hours per year. About 10 percent of the power generated will be reserved for local consumption while 90 percent will be sold to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.
Laos has memorandums of understanding in place to provide a total of 5,000MW of hydropower to Thailand by 2015, and a further 2,000MW by 2020.
There are 11 major hydropower plants and 36 smaller ones in operation. These generate energy for both domestic and export markets and have a combined installed capacity of more than 670MW. The 36 smaller hydropower plants are all government owned.
Together, they generate approximately 3.5 billion kilowatt-hours of power per year, of which about 2.2 billion is exported to Thailand .
Laos has the potential to generate a total of about 26,500MW from hydro sources, excluding the mainstream Mekong River . Of this, about 18,000MW is technically exploitable. About 12,500MW can be potentially generated by sources in the major Mekong sub-basins and the remainder in minor Mekong or non-Mekong basins.
Less than two percent of the country's hydropower potential has been developed over the past 30 years, according to the Energy Promotion and Development Department of the Ministry of Energy and Mines. |
