Saravan pins hopes on hydropower projects
Saravan pins hopes on hydropower projects
Saravan province is hoping to hasten the construction of small scale hydropower plant projects, in anticipation of driving social economic development growth.
The projects include those under a memorandum of understanding (MOU), Power Development Agreement (PDA) or Concession Agreement (CA).
They will have the investment value of more than 272 billion kip (US$34 million) from local investors, according to a report from the provincial Planning and Investment Department last week.
The small scale power plant projects will include Huay Avian in Samuoy district, as well as Huay Lai and Huay Saloung in Ta-oy district.
The provincial Energy and Mines Department Director General Mr Bounmakeo Onesa said Huay Avian was now under a feasibility study by a provincial investor to see if the project was able to be developed.
“So we are yet to know what the installed capacity will be,” Mr Bounmakeo said.
The provincial Planning and Investment Department reported that Huay Lai and Huay Saloung would be valued at about 48 billion kip (US$6 million) with investment from a Lao company in Champassak province. They are now under the PDA for a more detailed study.
“Huay Lai will have installed capacity of 3 megawatts (MW) and Huay Saloung will only be 1MW,” Mr Bounmakeo said.
“Another project is Xeset Keangxanh, which would also be developed by a local company and will cost about 228 billion kip (US$28 million).”
The development of the small-scale hydropower projects in Saravan province looks set to go ahead.
Xeset Houay Por project, which will be undertaken by a local energy developer, is expected to have an installed capacity of about 13-14MW.
The developer signed the CA with the state related sector last year and signed a power purchase agreement with Electricite du Laos (EDL).
“In regards to this project, the investor hopes to start the construction in the next few months,” Mr Bounmakeo said.
Xeset Kaengxanh project has signed a power purchase agreement with EDL and is expected to produce a similar amount of power as Xeset Houay Por.
“Xeset Kaengxanh’s project developer is now looking for financial support for the project investment,” Mr Bounmakeo said.
Currently, Saravan has two main hydropower plants – 45MW Xeset 1 and 76MW Xeset 2 – which generate electricity for domestic supply and to export to Thailand.
The government is promoting the rapid development of small and medium-d power plants for domestic supply in order to reduce the need for imported electricity.
They are run-of-river schemes, meaning power generation will depend on the immediate river water flow. The plants are also free of some environmental impacts associated with large-scale construction due to its run-of-river design, which does not require a large dam or storage reservoir.
Instead, run-of-river projects generate electricity by diverting only part of the stream. This produces relatively little change in the stream channel and flow, as well as minimising the impact on fish migration, water quality, and wildlife habitats.
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
