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Ceremony marks progress of Long River hydro scheme
An official groundbreaking ceremony for a small hydropower project on the Long River took place on Saturday in Long district, Luang Namtha province, after the government and an investor signed a concession agreement in March.
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| Minister of Energy and Mines Mr Soulivong Daravong strikes a gong at the groundbreaking ceremony. |
The project is worth about 109 billion kip (US$13.7 million), and is a joint investment between Luangpaseuth Construction Sole Co Ltd (LCC), which holds 80 percent, and Electricite du Laos (EDL), which holds the remaining 20 percent, Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines Mr Khammany Inthirath said at the groundbreaking ceremony.
Mr Khammany, who is also a representative of EDL, said the hydropower plant will feed the national grid and EDL will buy all the power generated for local supply, mainly to Long and Sing districts.
Luang Namtha provincial Governor Dr Phimmasone Leuangkhamma said “The project represents the first local investment in power plant infrastructure in Luang Namtha.”
The plant is expected to become operational in 2013 and will help 85 percent of the province's people gain access to electricity by 2015, Dr Phimmasone added.
LCC President Mr Bounleuth Luangpaseuth said the plant will have an installed capacity of 5 megawatts (MW) and is forecasted to achieve annual electricity generation of about 37 million KWh through two 2.5MW generators sourced from Germany. The project will also include the installation of 14km of 22kV transmission lines.
Nam Long Power Co Ltd Project Manager Mr Suvit Tangchongrath said the project is currently about 20 percent complete after the company started construction work earlier this year.
Nam Long Power Co Ltd was established in 2009 between LCC and EDL, with the purpose to build, own and operate the Nam Long hydropower project.
“We will own the project for 30 years, after which we can extend the agreement one time,” Mr Bounleuth said.
A feasibility study showed large interest in the project as a local energy source for Luang Namtha, with talk being that it may one day replace the need for imported electricity from China.
Long and Sing districts are both largely without access to electricity, but as they are located near to the Nam Long dam, local residents loom as potential consumers and the main beneficiaries of the power generated.
In addition, a Chinese company, which has invested in copper mining near the dam, needs electricity to feed their processing machines. The company initially needs about 2MW of electricity for their plant.
The Nam Long project is a run-of-river scheme, meaning power generation will depend on the immediate river water-flow. The dam or weir is only 6.5 metres in height.
The project is free of the environmental impacts associated with large-scale projects due to its run-of-river design, which does not require a large dam or storage reservoir. Instead, run-of-river projects generate electricity by diverting only part of the stream. This produces relatively little change in the stream channel and flow, and minimises the impact on fish migration, water quality, and wildlife habitats.
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.
vientiane times
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