Khammuan pins hopes on energy generation rising
Khammuan pins hopes on energy generation rising
Khammuan province expects that it may have electricity with an installed capacity up to about 2,000 megawatts (MW) in the future due to the province having the potential to develop growth in the energy sector.
“Currently there are many power projects being studied, including the potential of wind energy, solar (sun) energy and hydropower plants,” the provincial Energy Division Head, Mr Soulinh Phommaxay, said on Friday.
He said the hydropower plants are mainly the smaller projects that have installed capacities of 1 to 15MW.
They include one project in Hinboun district that may have an installed capacity of 14.9MW, one in Xebangfay district with a 15MW expectation and another in Bualapha district that hopes to reach about 15MW.
He added that there is one hydropower plant that is now under the construction in Khounkham district. This project will have an installed capacity of 43MW and is an investment project of Electricite du Laos (EDL).
Currently Khammuan has some major hydropower plants that are under operation supplying both the local grid and providing exports to Thailand. These include the Theun-Hinboun power plant of 220MW, Theun-Hinboun’s expansion project with another 280MW and Nam Theun 2 (NT2) with 1080MW.
The province also has the potential for wind and solar energy generation. Recently some energy companies from Thailand and China cooperated with the Ministry of Energy and Mines to conduct energy studies on wind and solar power in the province.
He said the developers are now studying the wind power project in the districts of Bualapha, Thakhek and Mahaxay. They expect to have a solar power farm in the province in the future.
The theoretical potential for wind energy in Laos is estimated to be more than 182,000 megawatts (MW).
This was the finding of a report entitled Renewable Energy Development Strategy in the Lao PDR, published in October 2011 by the Ministry of Energy and Mines and supported by the government of Finland.
Wind resources are identified to be high in Khammuan and Savannakhet provinces, according to the publication.
According to international data sources, there may be some wind potential in the central provinces of Laos, especially in the high mountains along the Lao-Vietnamese border (Savannakhet and Khammuan) where at heights of 50 metres and above, wind speeds reach 5.8 metres per second.
A wind power study also took place in the provinces of Xekong and Xieng Khuang.
Laos now has 24 operational power plants, from 1MW upwards, 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
