International competitive bidding to start for northern power grid

International competitive bidding to start for northern power grid

Electricite du Laos (EDL) will find out which company will be the winner to develop the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Northern Power Transmission Project on the 29th of this month.

There are 38 foreign construction companies registered for participation in the auction and “it will be international competitive bidding,” the Deputy Project Manager, Mr Khamsao Hansana, said yesterday.

“We will select only one company to develop the project. Local construction companies can have subcontracts with the winner,” Mr Khamsao said.

The winner will develop a phase of the project that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is financing.

The grant from November 23, 2010 was “about 160 billion kip (US$20 million),” Mr Khamsao said.

The project's development phase will include the const ruction of a 115kV transmission line from Paklai substation in Paklai district of Xayaboury province to Nonhai substation in Meun district of Vientiane province. It will be 98km in length and will be a single circuit on double towers.

Other developments will be the construction of a new 115/22kV Paklai substation and transformer installation as well as Nonhai and Xayaboury substation expansions.

The total cost of the GMS Northern Power Transmission Project is about 523 billion kip (US$65 million) and it is a co-financed development project including EDL, the ADB and the Korean Exim Bank, according to the project's weekly report.

Mr Khamsao said US$37.88 million is through a loan from the Korean Exim Bank that was made available on July 21, 2010, US$7.44 million is EDL's own expenditure and the rest comes from the ADB. It is a four year project, from 2011 to 2015.

Construction of the transmission lines and distribution facilities comprises three modules. The ADB will finance module 1, and the Korean Exim Bank will finance modules 2 and 3, according to the ADB's website.

The website also reported that the ADB provided a US$20 million grant for the first module of the project to build nearly 400 kilometers of 115kV transmission lines, substations and distribution lines in the provinces of Xayabouly and Phongsaly, and in western Vientiane.

The ADB-financed power project is helping to unify the country's fragmented transmission and distribution system. The project will also assist the government in meeting its target of electrifying 90 percent of all households by 2020.

The ADB is helping Laos roll out new power lines in underserved areas which will help improve living standards and increase opportunities to export excess power to neighboring Thailand.

vientiane times