Two hydro plants in pipeline for Attapeu, Xaysomboun
Two hydro plants in pipeline for Attapeu, Xaysomboun
Local and foreign energy developers signed a project development agreement (PDA) with the Lao government on Friday for two hydropower projects on the Nam Phouan and Nam Ang rivers in Xaysomboun and Attapeu provinces.
The developers, Electrical Construction and Installation State Enterprise of Laos and Hydro Lao Investment (HLI) 1 and 2 of Velcan Energy Group from France, signed with the Planning and Investment Ministry on behalf of the Lao government.
The PDA provides an exclusive framework for the negotiation of a tariff Power Purchase Agreement with Electricite du Laos (EDL), the Lao national utility, according to a press release.
The PDA validated four years of work by Velcan's team in Laos and international consultants.
The resulting advanced feasibility studies and detailed environmental and social assessments comply with the highest standards practiced in the industry, the press release noted.
The PDA further confirms the attractive features of the projects, typical of Laos' great potential for hydroelectricity.
Nam Phouan hydropower project is located in Hom district, Xaysomboun province and it will have an installed capacity of 52 megawatts (MW).
The project was jointly developed by Velcan Energy and ECI under the guidance of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with the Lao government in September 2010.
Nam Ang hydropower project is located in Sanxay district, Attapeu province, with a proposed installed capacity of 41MW and was jointly developed by Velcan Energy and ECI via a MOU signed with the Lao government in March 2011.
The Nam Phouan and Nam Ang hydropower projects are run-of-the-river projects that, once built, will provide sustainable and clean energy with very limited environmental impact.
Importantly, these projects will require no population resettlement, the handout noted.
The cost of the projects' investment is about 1.2 trillion kip (US$150 million).
These projects will contribute towards the electrification objectives set out by the Lao government, especially in remote areas of the country.
The generated electricity will be fed into the Lao national electricity grid, fostering economic growth and improving the wellbeing of the Lao people.
The projects also feature significant infrastructure works, such as a total of 65km of new and upgraded roads and 60km of transmission lines that will benefit local communities.
Velcan Energy is a green energy producer headquartered in Paris that has been present in Laos since 2010 through its representative office in Vientiane and its field operations. HLI 1 and 2 are subsidiaries of Velcan Energy entirely dedicated to investments in Laos.
So far Laos has 24 operational power plants, starting from one MW with a total installed capacity of 3,250.3MW. Combined, these are generating more than 16,100GWh annually for local and export markets.
The 24 plants include 14 under the management of independent power producers that have a combined installed capacity of about 2,859.6MW and 10 plants under the management of EDL which have a combined installed capacity of more than 390MW.
vientiane times
