Ash potential at Hongsa power plant
Ash potential at Hongsa power plant
New Zealand consultancy company AECOM has completed a feasibility study into a fly ash business in Laos for the energy investor Lao Holding State Enterprises (LHSE).
Fly ash, a by-product of combustion in electricity generation, can be mixed with cement in the manufacture of concrete, reducing the cement content by 15 to 20 percent.
An LHSE official said yesterday AECOM was in the process of drafting a final report on the feasibility of a fly ash operation for LHSE after completing an inception and interim report.
Under an agreement signed with LHSE earlier this year, AECOM has investigated the market potential and quality of fly ash available in Laos.
AECOM has looked at some related agreements on fly ash, market potential for the product in Laos and in foreign countries, and how fly ash could be transported and stored.
The company also studied cement and concrete factories in Vientiane and reported on fly ash businesses operating in Thailand and how similar operations could sell to the construction industry in Laos.
LHSE, through the Lao government, will have access to a free supply of fly ash for a period of 25 years once the Hongsa Mine-Mouth Power Project in Xayaboury province starts commercial operations, expected to be in 2015.
In Laos, the product would be used in the construction of dams, roads and buildings, as well as the production of bricks and roof tiles.
At the company's recent annual meeting to review its 2012 operations, LHSE General Manager, Dr Somboune Manolom, said based on the initial study LHSE could earn about 64 billion kip (US$8 million) annually from fly ash sales.
That would yield about 1.6 trillion kip (US$200 million) over the 25 year period.
Thailand's Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Public Company reported in October 2010 the Hongsa power plant will produce about 2 million tonnes annually of residual ash once electricity generation commences. It is expected to burn about 14 million tonnes of lignite per year to generate electricity, with the residual ash a by-product of the power generation process.
As of the end of June, LHSE reported construction of the Hongsa project was 62 percent complete; 1.1 percent ahead of schedule.
The Hongsa project is the largest power plant to be built in Laos and will have an installed capacity of 1,878MW at a total cost of more than 28.93 trillion kip (US$3.71 billion).
Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Public Company owns a 40 percent stake in the project, while Thailand's Banpu Power Ltd owns 40 percent and LHSE holds the remaining 20 percent.
vientiane times
