Namhoung 1 dam construction contracts signed
Namhoung 1 dam construction contracts signed
Simeuang Group Company Limited, project owner of the Namhoung 1 hydropower plant, has signed a construction agreement with three Korean contractors to build the plant.
The three are Dowoo Engineering (JV), Phungjin Industry Company and Dowoo Engineering and Construction Company and they will be responsible for all the civil works in building the plant.
The contract covers the full scope of the civil works on Namhoung 1, which is located in Xayaboury district and province.
Simeuang Group Co., Ltd President Mr Ekkaphan Phaphithack signed the contract with the Vice President of Dowoo Engineering Company Limited (JV) Mr Lee Sauk Seung, a director of Dowoo Engineering & Construction Company Limited, Mr Kang Here Yang and a director of Phungjin Industry Company, Mr Lee Sang Bok.
Senior officials from relevant ministries, local authorities and company representatives witnessed the signing ceremony.
Completion of civil works at the hydropower plant will cost over US$16.9 million, and was scheduled to commence soon after the agreement was signed.
Completion of the project is planned for 2017, according to a company representative, who said the civil works for the plant will not include the installation of generating machines.
“The company's contractors will cover the civil works for the plant but this doesn't include the installation of the electricity generating machinery,” said the Director of BET Hydropower Engineering and Mining Consultant Company, Mr Samly Mahavong.
BET Hydropower Engineering and Mining Consultant Company is a member of the Simeuang Group.
The plant will have a 15 MW installed capacity and the company expects to sell all the power generated to Electricite du Laos (EDL) for supply to the national grid when the plant is operational, according to a project report.
Local authorities expect the dam will pro vide farmers with the water they need to grow rice and other commercial crops for sale to other provinces.
The province is still dependent on electricity imported from Thailand to supply businesses and local residents.
Despite the fact that Laos exports electricity to Thailand, some parts of Laos still face a shortage of electricity.
This means the Lao government is spending a lot of money to re-import electricity back from Thailand to cover the shortage, even though the price of the imported power is higher than the original export price.
According to a report from the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the total energy supply this first quarter was about 3.4 billion kWh, valued at more than 1.71 trillion kip (US$214.2 million).
Energy exports were 2.3 million kWh, worth about 934.4 billion kip (US$116.8 million), a 17.9 percent drop from the same period last year.
Electricity imports from Thailand, Vietnam and China amounted to 423.9 million kWh at a cost of 202.4 billion kip (US$25.3 million), a 127 percent increase on the same period last year.
