Technical exchange highlights Laos' hydropower development
Technical exchange highlights Laos' hydropower development
A leading supplier of hydraulic power generation systems and services, Andritz Hydro, has decided to establish a representative office in Laos after being active in the country for more than 40 years.
To mark the occasion the company yesterday organised a Lao customer day in Vientiane to highlight specific challenges and environmental technology solutions for hydropower plants from various perspectives.
Apart from the technical presentation, the day offered ample opport unities for an intensive information exchange among participant s from the government and private sector.
The event was attended by Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines, Mr Viraphonh Viravong.
Laos' growt h has more recently been amongst the fastest in Asia and has averaged nearly 8 percent a year for the past decade with one of the main resources being electricity, mainly generated from hydropower.
Andritz Hydro is one of the world's leading providers of electro-mechanical equipment and services for hydropower plants.
The company has installed and rehabilitated more than 30 units with a total capacity of about 2,200MW, which represents a market share of 68 percent.
Large power plants such as the Xayaboury and Xekaman hydropower projects are currently under construction and were highlighted as Andritz Hydro success stories in Laos.
Over the last three years, the company has received three important orders in Laos from Song Da Corporation, the largest civil construction company in Vietnam.
Hydropower development is aimed at sourcing funding for national development and is a major contributor to Laos' efforts to graduate from Least Developed Country status by 2020.
The Lao government intends to develop hydropower projects with responsibility and transparency and is willing to release information to interested nations and people.
As of 2015, Laos had built 38 power plants at a total cost of more than 81.7 trillion kip (US$10 billion) with a total installed capacity of 6,265MW that could generate 33,315 million kWh of electricity a year, according to the Ministry of Energy and Mines.
There are currently 45 power plants under construction and more plants will be built in the future.
Laos is aiming for a total installed capacity of about 12,000MW by 2025, the Ministry of Energy and Mines reported.
The abundant resources of the Mekong River and its tributaries give Laos the potential to produce more than 25,000MW of electricity.
In 1975, only 19,000 families or 3 percent of the total population had access to electricity but today 89.6 percent of the population can access the power grid.
