Work to resume on Nam Hinboun hydro project soon
Work to resume on Nam Hinboun hydro project soon
Further construction on the Nam Hinboun hydropower project downstream from Theun Hinboun in Khammuan province will start in the coming months once the wet season is over.
“We may start in October or November after the rain stops,” the Deputy Project Manager Mr Phonevixay Phompheephak said yesterday.
“The construction will include the powerhouse and dam. Currently the project design is undergoing detailed checking,” Mr Phonevixay said.
Land clearance has already taken place across the site, including for access roads and two workers' camps and dormitories, while new houses for resettled communities inside the dam's impact area are undergoing construction.
“Once the rain ceases, we will start building camps and 377 houses in four new villages in Khounkham district,” he said.
The project will also see 10km of electricity transmission lines go straight to the resettlement sites. The relocation will start in September next year and the communities will have schools, markets, dispensaries, bore wells and other facilities.
“Nam Hinboun is about 4.5 percent complete now after work began last month,” Mr Phonevixay said.
The project will have a total investment of about 714 billion kip (US$89 million), and will be situated in Hinboun and Khounkham districts. It is an Electricite du Laos (EDL) investment.
The dam will have an installed capacity of 30MW and will generate about 155 million kWh annually. “Energy generation is expected to start in 2016,” he said.
T he project is a run-of-river concrete dam, about 7m in height, that will generate electricity for local consumption.
Mr Phonevixay said that according to the government's plan, this project's main purpose is to store water during the wet season and should supply water to agricultural land in the province during the dry season.
“More than 200,000 hectares of agricultural land will have water in the dry season once the project completes,” he said.
Nam Hinboun hydropower project will serve the rapidly expanding electricity demand of the local population. It is a local small-scale energy project and the government wants its electricity to be supplied in nearby communities and for industry.
The government is promoting the rapid development of small and medium d power plants for local supply to reduce the need to import electricity. Such plants have installed capacities ranging from 2-100MW.
vientiane times
