Opening of 154-km power line delivers boost to national grid
Opening of 154-km power line delivers boost to national grid
A 230kV high voltage transmission line officially became operational in Borikhamxay province on Saturday to deliver additional power to the national grid.
The 154-km line, which took over three years to install, will transmit electricity generated by hydropower plants managed by Electricite du Laos (EDL) and independent power producers in central and northern areas.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Minister of Energy and Mines Dr Khammany Inthilath said the line passed through Borikhamxay and Xaysomboun provinces. The project also involved construction of the Thavieng substation and improvements to the existing Thabok substation.
The opening ceremony was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad and officials from the National Assembly, Chinese Embassy to Laos, Borikhamxay and Xaysomboun provinces, the Ministry of Energy and Mines, and company representatives.
The power plants that will feed into the transmission line include Nam Ngiep 2, Nam Chien, Nam Xan 3A and 3B and others that will be built in the near future.
The project is owned by the government, which assigned EDL to operate it. Construction was undertaken by the China International Water & Electric Corporation (CWE).
Project Manager Mr Khamsao Hansana said the project cost more than 924.24 billion kip (US$113 million), which was sourced from a loan from the Exim Bank of China.
The transmission line runs from the Thavieng substation in Thathom district, Xieng Khuang province, to the Thabok substation in Thaphabath district, Borikhamxay province.
Transmission lines were also installed to link to the Nabong substation in Xaythany district, Vientiane, and the Luang Prabang substation in Luang Prabang province.
Recently the government also switched on a 230kV high voltage transmission line in Nambak district, Luang Prabang province, so that electricity will be available when work begins on the Laos-China railway. This project was viewed as a special event to mark the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Lao PDR.
Installation of this line cost more than 2.47 trillion kip (US$302.13 million) with the money loaned by the China Development Bank. The project will deliver electricity to provinces in the northern, central and southern regions and to neighbouring countries.
Dr Khammany noted that in 1975, Laos had only three substations with just a few kilometres of transmission line whereas today the power grid runs for more than 50,000km and has 53 substations.
In 1975, only 19,000 families or 3 percent of the total population had electricity in their homes. Now, however, 89.6 percent of the population has access to the power grid.
