Nam Ngiep 1 dam construction on track
Nam Ngiep 1 dam construction on track
T he construction of a major power plant, the Nam Ngiep 1 hydropower project, saw actual overall cumulative work progress until the end of March at 12.4 percent, with power production scheduled for early 2019.
Lao Holding State Enterprise (LHSE) reported yesterday that the project developers are carrying out construction of the project through four separate main construction contracts, namely the civil works, the electrical and mechanical works, the hydraulic metal works and the 230kV transmission line works.
The project construction started at the end of last year and the cost of the project is more than 7.24 trillion kip (US$906 million), LHSE reported.
The project is a Lao and foreign joint venture , under the name Nam Ngiep 1 Power Co Ltd.
It is jointly owned by KPIC Netherlands, a subsidiary of Japan's Kansai Electric Power, with 45 percent of the shares, EGAT International of Thailand with 30 percent and LHSE with the remaining 25 percent.
Following the completion of the project, it will have an installed capacity of 290 megawatts (MW) with a generating capacity of 1,592 GWh per annum to sell the majority of its production to Thailand with the balance being sent to the national power grid.
According to last year's report, the main dam and power station will generate 272 MW of power for export to Thailand.
About 6km downstream from the main dam, the re-regulating dam and power station will generate 18MW of electricity for sale to Electricite du Laos (EDL) for contribution to the domestic grid.
The project has a concession period of 27 years and once the concession period has ended the ownership of the plant will be transferred to the Lao government in its entirety.
The developers signed the project concession agreement with the Lao government in August 2013.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines reports that there are 26 power projects under construction with an expected completion date of 2020 and these will have a total installed capacity of about 6,112MW.
Eight power plants are currently under construction and will be complete by the end of this year. Five of the projects 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 has noted.
The abundant resources of the Mekong River and its tributaries give Laos the potential to produce more than 25,000MW of electricity.
LHSE is a shareholder in four power plant projects (Nam Theun 2, Xe Pian-Xe Nam Noi, Nam Ngiep 1 and Hongsa Mine-Mouth Power Project) that have a total installed capacity of 3,658MW with a generating capacity of 21,215 million KWh per annum and a combined investment cost of around 55.46 trillion kip (US$6.93 billion), including US$536.64 million invested by LHSE.
