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Thursday, June 26, 2008

Russian investor to start southern hydro projects

A Russian company expects to spend more than 6.8 trillion kip (about US$790 million) on two hydropower projects in two southern provinces of Laos.
Mr Oleg Kabardin ( left ) shakes hands with Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Thongmy Phomvixay after exchanging agreements. --Photo Khamphanh

These will be the Nam Kong 1 plant in Attapeu province and the Xekong 4 plant in Xekong province.

“We hope to start building these plants next year,” General Director of Region Oil LLC, Mr Oleg Kabardin, said at a signing ceremony in Vientiane on Monday.

Region Oil LLC signed project development agreements (PDAs) with the Ministry of Planning and Investment in Vientiane at a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Dr Thongloun Sisoulith.

The Nam Kong 1 plant will have a dam wall 85.3 metres high and 386 metres long and will have an energy generation capacity of 469 GWh per year.

Investment in the plant will be 1.4 to 1.6 trillion kip (US$168 to US$186 million), according to a press release from the ministry.

The Xekong 4 dam wall will be 169 metres high and 1,027 metres long and the plant will be able to generate 1,901GWh per year.

The investment cost of this project will be about 5.3 trillion kip (US$604 million), according to the press release.

Both projects are currently governed by the PDA, which allows the investor to spend 18 months conducting additional surveys to obtain more details.

During this period the investor is required to revise previous studies, including the feasibility study and the environmental and social impact studies.

The investor will also discuss the power purchase price during this time and will make a purchase agreement with Electricite du Laos (EDL).

When these components are completed, the project will move forward to concession and shareholder agreements between the investor and the Lao government.

The investor will own the projects for 30 years after signing the concession agreement. The Lao government will hold a 20 percent investment share and the rest will belong to the investor.

Mr Oleg said the company had prepared a draft concession agreement for the government to sign and a draft power purchase agreement for EDL. Other drafts have been prepared for the purchase of electricity by Vietnam and Thailand .

The company is currently working on the design and technical systems of the two plants.

Region Oil LLC signed a memorandum of understanding with the Lao government several years ago to start studies on four hydropower projects, Nam Kong 1 and 3 and Xekong 5 and Xekong 4.

The company worked with Lao and Norwegian firms on the basic study for the Xekong 5 project. This study and a feasibility study have both been completed.

“We will have further discussions with the Lao government about the Nam Kong 3 project,” Mr Oleg said.

By vientiane times
(Latest Update June 25, 2008)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good project. Looking forwards to work with russian and norwegian. They are just great people.

Very useful information, Phanomsinh. Many thanks and keep doing a great job.