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EDL powers up economic foundation
Electricite du Laos (EDL) has played a greater role in the development of the Lao economy thanks to support and close supervision from the Party and government, according to the director of the state-owned enterprise. He said over the past five years the electricity industry in Laos has grown rapidly, adding that at present there are 14 power plants with a total installed production capacity of 2,558 megawatts (MW), up from 9 power plants with an installed capacity of 680 MW. The nation's power plants are able to generate 11,000 million kWh of power a year.
Nine power plants with a total installed electricity production capacity of 385 MW are under the direct management of EDL, while the rest are independent power plants. State-owned power plants generate power of about 1,700 to 1,800 million kWh a year. EDL has also expanded the national power grid, particularly in remote parts of the country, aiming to boost economic growth. At present, there 2,972 km of high voltage power lines, 15,771 km of medium voltage power lines and 12,955 km of low voltage power lines around the country, as well as 33 sub-stations. The increase in supply and larger network has allowed EDL to expand electricity supply to 782,500 households, covering all provincial capitals, 141 districts and about 72 percent of total households in the country. The Party and government plan to ensure that 80 percent of households have access to electricity by 2015 and 90 percent by 2020.
EDL has taken part in the development of the agriculture-forestry sector as it supplies power to 24,000 irrigation projects nationwide, allowing farmers growing crops on 200,000 hectares of agriculture land to access water and boosting rice production to 3 million tons a year, up from only 700,000 tons in 1976 and 1.5 million tons in the 1980s. The state-owned enterprise also supplies electricity to 30,000 heavy and light industries including mining plants, cement factories, a number of processing industries, and banks, telecomm companies, hotels, restaurants and shopping centers around the country.
One of the outstanding achievements of the company over the past five years was that it was able to mobilize investment funds from foreign countries to develop electricity infrastructure including power plants and the power grid. The company joined hands with foreign partners to develop five investment projects with a total investment value of about US$1.8 billion. It also mobilized loans and grants from foreign countries and international institutes to develop the power grid, construct power plants and substations with total investment funds of US$1.5 billion. The company generated revenues of about 1,600 to 1,800 billion kip a year, a 29 to 36 percent annual increase over the past five years.
Vientiane Times
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