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Land lease deal paves way for Attapeu hydro project
The Xekaman 1 Hydropower Company signed a land lease agreement with the National Land Management Authority on Thursday in Vientiane.
The agreement serves as an important annex to complete the conditions precedent to the Concession Agreement (CA), according to a press release issued at the signing ceremony.
The company, a Vietnamese investment through the Viet-Lao Power Joint Stock Company (VLPC), signed a project CA with the Lao government in February.
The press release noted the land lease agreement will last for a term of 30 years, including 5 years of project construction and 25 years of operation. It is a major step in enabling the project developers to achieve the planned schedule and overall success of the venture.
Also on Thursday, VLPC submitted a feasibility study for the Xekaman 4 hydropower project to the Lao government.
VLPC is expected to complete its investment procedures and to begin the project at the end of next year, the press release noted.
The Xekaman 1 hydropower project is planned for the Xekaman River in Xanxay District, Attapeu Province.
If it goes ahead the project would have a total installed capacity of 322 megawatts (MW), consisting of the two plants of Xekaman 1 (290MW) and Xekaman Xanxay (32MW).
It would have an average generating output of 1.22 billion kWh per year, of which 20 percent would be supplied to Laos and the rest to Vietnam.
The project has a total investment value of about 3.5 trillion kip (US$441.6 million) and developers hope to start commercial generation in 2015.
The plant would be funded by the Vietnamese government and built by the Songda-UCRIN Company of Vietnam.
The project, scheduled for completion in 2014, would be handed to the Lao government after 25 years.
If it goes ahead, the hydro plant would play part an important part in the economic and social development of the border area shared by Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
The proposed plant is one of the more significant projects under the framework of energy cooperation between the governments of Laos and Vietnam.
Laos will witness the opening of at least two new power plants each year between now and 2020. In 2006 the country had only 10 power plants with a total capacity of 700MW. Now it has 14 plants with a total capacity of 2,540MW.
According to the Energy Promotion and Development Department of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, excluding the mainstream Mekong River, Laos has the potential to generate about 26,500MW from hydropower sources.
VLPC is the leading Vietnamese enterprise involved in power investment and generation in Laos, with total investment value of about 16 trillion kip (US$2 billion).
It first came to Laos in 2002 and is now a major hydropower developer in Laos. It has also invested in a hotel complex and leasing office that opened last month.
vientiane times
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