Xekong hydro plant study delayed
Xekong hydro plant study delayed
The feasibility study on the proposed Houay Yeung 7 hydropower project in Xekong province will not be completed on schedule but the provincial authorities have extended the deadline.
Local construction company, MP Construction Co Ltd, began conducting the study on the project in May last year after it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Xekong provincial Planning and Investment Department.
The memorandum was valid for nine months and the study had to have been completed in that time.
“The company could not complete the study within the time and asked for an extension,” the department's Director, Mr Nouphone Khemmalay, said yesterday.
“So we have extended the timetable for the company by an additional 12 months.”
The agreement authorises the investor to conduct studies including an assessment of the potential social and environmental impacts of the proposed plant, as well as other issues.
Nouphone explained that the study was delayed as the company had faced difficulties with the access road to the project site, the construction of Road No 16B has not been completed and there has been heavy rain in the province.
The Houay Yeung 7 plant is expected to have an installed capacity of about 15 megawatts (MW) initially.
The project will be located on the Houay Yeung stream, which has a length of 40 kilometres and runs through Dakcheung district. Once the project is developed, the generated energy will be able to link to the national power grid.
Construction may start immediately if the study yields good results and the company will be given a concession by the government to carry out the project.
Nouphone said the stream's length would allow the company to build eight to nine hydropower plants.
Xekong province is keen to develop its natural resources to spur its economic development. Greater use of these resources would also help to eradicate poverty in line with the government's goals.
Nouphone said so far there are about 20 power projects that have been signed off on and are ready to undertake studies. There still are some foreign and local companies interested in energy development in the province.
By last year the province had only about 14 power projects that had been signed off on and studies undertaken.
Currently there are some hydropower plants in the province that will start commercial operations soon.
Nouphone said they include the Houay Lamphan-yai, which will have an installed capacity of 8 8MW and commence generation this year. The project is now building up water storage in the reservoir to supply the power plant for electricity generation that may start within the next few months.
The Xekaman 3 hydropower plant in the province has yet to run according to schedule. It has an installed capacity of 250MW. “Construction has been completed and it is now undergoing testing and fine tuning of some systems,” Nouphone said.
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.
They include eight which are expected to be complete by the end of this year, five that are scheduled for completion next year, seven that will come on line in 2017, one that will be finished in 2018 and three plants that will begin operations 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.
