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Hydro plant set to power up Huaphan
A joint venture hydropower company signed agreements with the Ministry of Planning and Investment Ministry and Electricite du Laos (EDL) on Monday in Vientiane.
The Nam Sim Power Company signed a concession agreement with the ministry to develop the Nam Sim hydropower plant in Huaphan province and a power purchase agreement with EDL.
The project will cost about 144 billion kip (US$18 million) and will be owned by the company for 25 years, according to a handout issued at the signing ceremony.
The company is a joint venture between Norpower AS of Norway, which holds a 75 percent share, and the domestic Electrical Construction and Installation State Enterprise, holding a 25 percent share on behalf of the Lao government.
“Project construction will start this year and be completed in 2013,” EDL Managing Director Mr Khammany Inthirath said.
Nam Sim Power Company Managing Director Mr Ove Bugge said two Francis turbines will generate up to 9 megawatts (MW) of electricity, which will be transferred about 5km via a 22kV transmission line to the EDL grid.
The handout noted that the two turbines come from a French company, MECAMIDI, and will generate about 32,500Gkwh per year.
Mr Khammany said “EDL will buy all the power produced for 25 years at a cost of 2.25 US cents per kWh.”
“We will also buy all the power produced if the investor enlarges the project.”
The power grid in Huaphan is currently under development. At present, electricity for use in the province is imported from Vietnam, but it is inadequate for industrial and agricultural purposes.
“We will buy electricity generated by the Nam Sim project to reduce power imports and also to promote investment in the energy sector,” Mr Khammany said.
Huaphan faces a considerable shortage in power supply, and load shedding is common.
Mr Bugge said only 25 percent of households in the province are connected to the grid, and many new customers are waiting for connections. The lack of a stable electricity supply has been a major factor in slowing socio-economic development in the province.
The project aims to relieve the present shortage of power in the existing transmission and distribution grid and make Huaphan less dependent on imports from Vietnam.
The developers signed a memorandum of understanding with the government in 2003 and a project development agreement in 2007.
The government is promoting the rapid development of small and medium sized power plants for local supply to reduce the need for imported electricity. These plants have installed capacities ranging from 2-100MW.
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.
vientiane times
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