| |
Sinohydro inks power plant deal with Laos' energy firm
People's Daily. August 14, 2009
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90778/90857/90861/6727902.html
Sinohydro Corporation, China's largest builder of hydropower plants,
has signed a contract with Laos' electricity supplier, Electricite Du
Laos (EDL), to build two hydropower stations and a power transmission
line in a deal that is cumulatively worth around $559 million.
The two companies will construct the 130,000-kW Nam Khan 2 hydropower
plant located 30 km southeast of Luang Prabang city on the Nam Khan
river, and is expected to generate 556 million kWh of electricity a
year, according to a statement posted on the State-owned Assets
Supervision and Administration Commission website.
And another 47,000-kW Nam Khan 3 hydropower plant will be located 70
km north of Luang Prabang city, which is expected to generate 222
million kWh of electricity in a year. The two projects alone involve
about $430 million investment in total.
Besides, the contracts also include the construction of the 230-kV
power transmission line from Xiengkhouang to Luang Prabang city, which
is the major part of Laos' 2020 national grid network plan.
Under the project, a transformer station at Xiekhouang will be further
expanded and a new transformer station at Luang Prabang will be
constructed along with relevant supporting facilities.
EDL is a state-owned corporation which owns and operates the main
generation, transmission and distribution assets in Laos, and manages
electricity imports into its grids and exports from its stations.
Khammone Phonekeo, chairman of EDL, said: "The energy sector,
especially hydropower, plays a very key role in Laos' economic
development." He hoped construction work on the new projects would
begin very soon.
Huang Baodong, deputy general manager of Sinohydro, said: "Sinohydro
has over 10 years of business experience in Laos and the contracts
with EDL will further consolidate and improve Sinohydro's market share
in the country's hydropower sector."
Ma Jun, a hydropower insider and director of the Institute of Public
and Environmental Affairs, said: "Chinese hydropower enterprises
should strictly abide by local environmental rules and reduce impacts
on local environment as much as possible when they are exploring
hydropower projects overseas, especially when they're doing projects
in some developing countries in which the environmental assessment and
supervision system still needs improvement."
|
|
