Laos-Singapore power line project to be inked in October
Laos-Singapore power line project to be inked in October
Four Asean nations will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a pilot scheme that will see Laos exporting electricity to Singapore via Thai and Malaysian transmission networks.
The MOU will be inked by the energy ministers of Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore at the 33rd Asean Energy Ministers Meeting (AEMM) to be held in Malaysia in October this year, a senior energy official has confirmed.
T he Laos-Singapore power transmission line project was tabled for discussion by the four countries at the 33rd Asean Senior Officials' Meeting on Energy (SOME) and associated meetings held in Sabah, Malaysia, recently .
Director General of the Energy Policy and Planning Department, Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines, Dr Daovong Phonekeo, told Vientiane Times yesterday “Our senior officials have agreed in principle regarding the content of the MOU which will be submitted to our ministers for signing.”
“The four countries have formed a taskforce comprising sections responsible for technical viability (Malaysia), tariffs and taxes (Laos), legal and regulatory aspects (Singapore), and commercial arrangements (Thailand) to be chaired by each country. We expect that the project could become commercially operational by 2019.”
Dr Daovong said the taskforce would have to report the progress of work undertaken by the four countries, including the challenges they faced, at the upcoming meeting so they can discuss solutions to the problems.
Malaysia's Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water, Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili, was quoted in Malaysia's Daily Express as saying that the ministers' meeting from October 5 to 9 will discuss the project and the multilateral cooperation involving Laos, Thailand, Malaysian and Singapore.
“The paperwork will be further discussed at the meeting. We would like to see a breakthrough in discussions on the power lines at the next meeting,” he said, adding that the flagship project would be the model for power trading between Asean nations in the future.
Dr Ongkili said the four nations would need to stabilise their existing power grids before exporting energy to other countries.
“We have to start to build a strong and proper power grid within the country before we even start to think about exporting or importing power from other Asian countries,” he said.
The MOU will reflect the commitment of the four countries to strengthen their cooperation and realise the Laos-Singapore power transmission line project.
Laos currently sells electricity to Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, but also wants to export power to Singapore where the price of electricity is reportedly much higher.
Singapore has agreed in principle to purchase 100 MW of electricity from Laos under a pilot scheme, while Thailand and Malaysia have offered their support.
Laos has great potential for hydropower development, generating about one-third of Laos' capital income from the natural resource.
As of October last year, Laos had 25 operational hydropower plants with a total installed capacity of about 3,230MW, exceeding domestic consumption needs of about 1,000MW.
