Hongsa power plant to start energy generation next month
Hongsa power plant to start energy generation next month
Energy investor Lao Holding State Enterprise (LHSE) has reported that the coal-fired Hongsa Mine-Mouth Power Project is now testing its generator unit 1 after the unit was installed a few months ago.
“We are certain that the plant will begin energy generation next month and there will be no delay,” an official from LHSE said yesterday.
He said generator units 2 and 3 are now being installed and are expected to begin generating electricity in November this year and March next year.
Last year LHSE General Manager Dr Somboune Manolom reported at the biannual meeting of the enterprise that generator units 1 and 2 would begin electricity generation in May and October this year and unit 3 would power up in February 2016.
“There is a month's delay because some aspects of construction took longer than expected,” the LHSE official said.
LHSE was established by the government in February 2005 to facilitate investment in energy generation, and holds a 20 percent share in the Hongsa power plant.
The Thai Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Public Company owns a 40 percent shareholding in the project, while Banpu Power Ltd of Thailand owns the remaining 40 percent.
LHSE reported on Monday that, as at the end of March, construction of the power plant in Hongsa district, Xayaboury province, was 96.1 percent complete, against 97.9 percent of the plan.
Work to date includes construction of the powerhouse, 500kV and 115kV transmission lines and substation, and two dams on the Nam Leuak and Nam Kaen for use by the project, plus pipeline systems.
With regard to the coal mining side of the project, an overburden sub pit and overburden main pit are in place along with a coal stockyard and associated infrastructure.
The Hongsa mine-mouth project is the largest power plant to be built in Laos, and will have an installed capacity of 1,878 megawatts (MW). Construction began in October 2009.
The plant will generate about 12,582GWh annually for the Lao and Thai markets.
According to the Ministry of Energy and Mines there are 26 power plants under construction in Laos, all of which are expected to be operational by 2020. They will have a total installed capacity of about 6,112MW.
Eight of these power plants are expected to be complete by the end of this year. Five are scheduled for completion next year, seven will come on line in 2017, one will be finished in 2018 and three plants will begin operation in 2019.
Twenty-seven power plants are currently operational in Laos with a combined installed capacity of about 3,304MW.
Laos is aiming for a total installed capacity of about 12,000MW by 2025, a ministry report states.
The abundant resources of the Mekong River and its tributaries give Laos the potential to produce more than 25,000MW of electricity.
