Nam Aow hydropower plant set to operate in 2018
Nam Aow hydropower plant set to operate in 2018
Bothong Inter Company Limited, a privately-owned company, is now investing a total of US$30 million (over 244.8 billion kip) to develop a small scale hydropower plant in Xieng Khuang province, planning for a completion date in 2018.
The hydropower development is being undertaken by a 100 percent privately-owned company and managed by local investors.
Chairman of Bothong Inter Company Limited Mr Chanthong Xanavanh told Vientiane Times yesterday that construction of the Nam Aow hydropower plant began last October with a focus on excavation work to prepare the land for the construction of the dam site.
“Currently we are 20 percent progressed for clearing land for the construction of infrastructure to access the dam site prior to building a house for electric generators,” he said.
He explained that construction of the building to house the generators will take at least two dry seasons to complete because work on this area will not be able to be carried out in the wet season due to the inconvenience of too much water and other factors.
According to Mr Chanthong, this small scale hydropower plant has an installed capacity of 15 MW and will be able to generate electricity in both the wet and dry seasons.
“Electricity to be generated from this plant will be sold to Electricite du Laos (EDL),” Mr Chanthong said, noting that the completion of Nam Aow hydropower plant will enable Laos to decrease its imports of electricity from neighbouring countries.
Nam Aow hydropower plant is located in Pha village, Phaxay district of Xieng Khuang province. The project has estimated that a total of six hectares of rice fields will be affected, which are owned by about 12-13 families.
“They will be offered a reasonable compensation by the company in relation to the different offers or choices,” Mr Chanthong said.
The company has clear options for affected residents in the form of three different choices. For example, the first option is that people can choose to work with the company, secondly the company will find another place for them to build up a new community or they can find new places themselves and take compensation in cash.
“According to our primary survey, many villagers would prefer to take cash rather than the other options however our company will try to do some paperwork to ensure they agree to pick up an exact offer,” he said, adding that the actual payment will be managed when the floodwater comes.
Mr Chanthong also added that once the two or three generators are installed, the machines will also be launched to ensure electricity is sold in accordance with the purchasing agreement.
According to a recent report from the government, the abundant resources of the Mekong River and its tributaries give Laos the potential to produce more than 25,000MW of electricity.
Laos has 38 power plants for which development has been completed, with a total installed capacity of 6,264MW, according to a report in March this year.
Laos is also aiming for a total installed capacity of about 12,000MW by 2025.
Currently a total of 89.6 percent of the population has access to electricity across Laos.
