Laos, Malaysia ink deal for Champassak transmission line
Laos, Malaysia ink deal for Champassak transmission line
Electricite du Laos (EDL) and Malaysia's PESTECH Sdn Bhdhave this week signed an engineering procurement and construction contract for a 40km 115kV transmission line in Champassak province.
The line will link Bang Yor substation in Pakxe district to the Lao-Thai border and will be used to export and import electricity to and from Thailand.
A signing ceremony was held on Wednesday in Vientiane following approval from the Government Office last Friday, witnessed by Energy and Mines Deputy Minister,Dr KhammanyInthirath, and Malaysian Ambassador to Laos, Mr DatoThan Tai Hing.
A PESTECH SdnBhd representative said construction was set to start this month.
The project is expected to take 18 months to complete and will be funded with a loan from Malaysia; however the two companies would not reveal its total cost.
A handout from the ceremony said the parties would propose the details of the loan to Malaysia following this week's agreement.
EDL needs to expand its transmission network to help carry power generated in the southern provinces to the grid linking Laos and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.
Construction is currently underway on the government-owned Houay Lamphan Gnai hydropower plant in Xekong province's Thateng district, which will have a capacity of 88 megawatts (MW) and generate 480 million kWh per year.
By 2015 the dam will be generating electricity for supply to the southern provinces, where the demand for power is increasing rapidly, as well as for export to Thailand.
The hydropower plant is part of EDL's transmission line projects that will increase the electricity export capacity of the south of Laos from its current 90MW to 140MW.
vientiane times
