Thailand
Powering Investment In Laos
By the end of 2016, with US$5.4 billion worth of funding already in place, China was by far the largest overseas investor in Laos.
China and Laos jointly initiated work on the second phase of the 1,156-megawatt Nam Ou Cascade Hydropower Project earlier this year. The project, set on Laos’ principal river, is seen as one of the country’s key contributions to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
With Laos’ GDP for 2016 recorded at just US$15.9 billion, China has shouldered the bulk of the cost of the US$2.8 billion initiative in exchange for the concession to operate the hydropower installation for the next 29 years.
Once completed, it will comprise seven dams and hydropower stations and have a projected capacity of 1,156 megawatts, together with an annual energy output of 5,017 gigawatt hours.
The lead on the Chinese side has been taken by Sinohydro, a Beijing-headquartered state-owned hydropower engineering and construction company, which entered into an agreement to develop the project on a joint-venture basis with Electricite Du Laos (EDL), the Laos state electricity corporation, which holds a 15 per cent stake in the site.
Under the terms of the project, all electricity generated will be sold to EDL. Significantly, Nam Ou is the first project for which a Chinese enterprise has secured the whole basin rights for planning and development.
With work on Phase One completed more than two years ago – comprising construction of the Nam Ou 2, Nam Ou 5 and Nam Ou 6 plants – the site generated its first electricity on 29 November 2015. In total, the capacity of Phase One is estimated at about 540 megawatts, almost half the total envisaged for the completed project. The groundbreaking ceremony for the second phase was held about five months later and marked the beginning of work on the remaining plants – Nam Ou 1, Nam Ou 3, Nam Ou 4 and Nam Ou 7. The second phase is scheduled for completion in 2020.
“Once completed, the Nam Ou Cascade Hydropower Project will have a major role to play in the reduction of poverty across Laos,” said Dr Khammany Inthilath, Laos’ Minister of Energy and Mines.
Source: https://www.thailand-business-news.com/asean/62496-powering-investment-laos.html