Four hydropower plants to start producing in Laos this year

Feb 10, 2010, 4:56 GMT

Vientiane - Four new hydropower plants are scheduled to begin commercial operation this year in Laos, which aims to become the 'battery of ASEAN' in the near future, media reports said Wednesday.

The Ministry of Energy and Mines said electricity generation at hydropower plants Nam Ngum 2 and Nam Lik 1-2 in Vientiane province, Nam Nhone in Bokeo province and Nam Theun 2 in Khammouane province was expected to begin before year-end, the Vientiane Times reported.

Nam Theun 2, Laos' largest hydropower plant with an installed electricity generating capacity of about 1,088 megawatts (MW), is expected to start operations in April, according to sources at the World Bank, which is a guarantor of loans to the project.

The plant is to supply electricity to both the domestic market and neighbouring Thailand, generating about 270 million dollars a year for Laos, one of the world's poorest countries.

Nam Ngum 2 hydropower, with an installed electricity generating capacity of 615 MW, is also due to open this year, exporting all its electricity to Thailand, the Vientiane Times reported.

Another plant to open this year, Nam Lik 1-2 hydropower plant, with installed electricity generating capacity of 100 MW, is to supply the domestic market, as is the Nam Nhone hydropower plant, with a generating capacity of 2.4 MW.

Nan Nhone is Laos' first small power plant project, being jointly developed by the Lao and French private sectors.

The plant is to supply the Electricite du Laos grid in Bokeo province in Northern Laos.

At present, there are another 17 power plants in the planning stage in Laos, and 45 others undergoing feasibility studies.

The Communist government of Laos, a mountainous nation with abundant water resources, has set a goal of becoming the 'battery of ASEAN.'

Laos joined the Association of South-East Asian Nations in 1997, which also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The government has signed agreements to provide 7,000 MW of energy to Thailand by 2015, and 3,000 MW to Vietnam by 2020.