Khwa and Samphanh residents to enjoy electricity supply in mid-2011

(KPL) The Heuangpaseuth Electricity Construction and Installation Company signed a contract with the Ministry of Energy and Mining to carry out the installation of 22 kV and 0.4 kV transmission line network and transformers in the northernmost province of Phongsaly.
The signing ceremony for the transmission line installation project was held in Vientiane Capital last Friday.
The contract was signed between Director General of the Heuangpaseuth Electricity Construction and Installation Company, Mr. La Khamdy, Deputy Cabinet Head of the Ministry of Energy and Mining, Mr. Chaleun Inthavy, and Deputy Head of the Energy and Mining Service of Phongsaly province, Mr. Pheng Nilavong.
The contractor confirmed that the installation work would be completed in 16 months.
The installation costs 33.7 billion kip, which will be a pre-investment of the contractor.
The installation of the 22-kV power grid stretches 76.2 km from Sinsay village junction in Khwa district to Samphanh district while the 0.4 kV power grid will be 13.4 km long.
Vice-Governor of Phongsaly province, Mr. Pheng Nilavong, said that the electricity consumption rate in this northernmost province was the lowest among all the provinces in the country, accounting for 13 per cent of the total 167,181 households nationwide.
He went on that this project would supply electricity to 1,240 households in 19 villages of Khwa and Samphanh districts. This project is to materialise the Energy and Mining Development Strategy Plan till 2020 as the 7th National Socio-Economic Development Plan (2011-2015).
According to the 7th NSEDP, the amount of electricity consumption nationwide will cover 70 per cent of the entire households nationwide in 2010, 80 per cent in 2015 and 90 per cent in 2020.
In mid-2009, 65 per cent of households countrywide have accessed to permanent electricity supply. To fulfil the plan, this year the �Electricite du Laos� will strive to expand the network of power supply to no less than five per cent of the entire households nationwide

Power grid installation in Viengphoukha

(KPL) An agreement on power grid installation and construction project in Viengphoukha, Luang Namtha province, was signed in the northern province last Thursday, 7 January.
The signatories to the agreement were Director of the Viengphoukha Coal Mining Company, Mr. Nobphone Chaleunphon; Director of the Heuangpaseuth Power Grid Construction Company, Mr. Lakhamdy Heuangpaseuth; Vice-Governor of Luang Namtha province, Mr. Phonesay Chanthasone; and Director of Energy and Mining Service of Luang Namtha Province, Mr. Phanthong Phithoumma. Relevant officials witnessed the signing.
The activities of the project include the installation of a 2,630 km 0.4-kv power grid, the installation of one 100-kwa transformers, three 50-kwa transformers in three villages of Nam Ngeun, Sakon and Laylord, with an investment of 6.9 billion kip (THB 27million) as a grant from the Viengphoukha Coal Mining Company.
The work will take 10 months following the signing day.

Lao Electricity Company gives double whammy punch to lower income Laotians

(KPL) Farmers, workers and government officials were being burdened by the rapid rise in the cost of living in the 2009-2010 fiscal year. To add to their suffering there was a hike in the price of electricity in 2009, but just recently there was an announcement by the Lao Electricity Company that there will be a replacement of 5% turnover tax by a 10% value added tax (VAT) on the electricity bills.
This company said that based on the government�s announcement that the VAT would be operational in Laos from 1 January 2010, it would then cease to impose the five per cent turnover tax on electricity usage by consumers and replace it with the 10 per cent VAT, an increase of five per cent.
The Lao Electricity Company made a declaration on 5 January that this new ruling would enable the Lao government to collect more revenue.
According to officials who wanted to remain anonymous the five per cent hike would have adverse effects on the finances of the lower income group in the Lao society, farmers, workers and officials.
Government officials and the poor asked why it was that the cost of electricity in Laos should trend upwards and become expensive by Lao standard when it was exporting electricity to other countries and was planning to construct quite a few more dams on the tributary rivers of the Mekong River to generate electricity for export to earn more money.
According to the Tax Department, the introduction of the VAT system would enable Laos to enjoy revenue increase by as much as 1.4 per cent. Laos is one of the least developed countries (LDCs) that has introduced the VAT system and in doing so it has joined the ranks of 130 countries in the world to do so.

EICS to increase percentage of Lao people accessing electricity to 70 this year

(KPL) Electricity Installation and Construction State-enterprise (EICS) plans to increase the percentage of Lao population accessing electricity up to 70 by this year�s end and to 90 by 2020.
The company held a meeting on its power grid expansion across the country last week.
Minister of Energy and Mining, Mr. Sulivong Dalavong; Deputy Head of EICE, Mr. Amphone Phommachak, and relevant officials were present at the meeting.
The company has completed surveying on and designing of the nationwide installation of power grid.

Due to our survey there will be the installation of 22-kv power grid in a length of 2,317 km and 0.4 kv power grid in a stretch of 1,388 km and 857 transformers,� Mr. Amphone said last Thursday.
The company has invested 8.8 billion kip in the survey and design of its power grid project.
So far the company has completed the installation of a 22-kv power grid in a length of 2,322 km, a 0.4-kv power grid in a length of 1,388 km and 979 transformers with an investment of 93.6 billion kip.

Kuwait helps Laos in energy development

(KPL) The Kuwaiti Fund has provided Laos with a US$ 25 million low interest loan for the construction of a 115-KV transmission line and power distribution network in the northern provinces of Luang Namtha, Bokeo and Oudomsay.
The project will enable the provinces to import electricity from China to supply a growing population and facilitate business operation and development in the areas. The project, one of the priority projects in the socio-economic development plan of the energy sector, is a plan of the government to eliminate poverty for all people by 2020.
A loan agreement was signed last week in Vientiane between Mr. Somdy Douangdy, Minister of Finance, and Mr. Hesham Ibrahim Alwaqayan, Deputy Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development. A project agreement was also signed by the Kuwaiti agency and the Electricite du Laos at the same ceremony.
This is the first batch of low-interest loan released by the Kuwaiti Fund to the Lao Government. According to a press release from the Fund, the loan has been made for a term of 24 years, including a grace period of four years, to be amortised in 40 semi-annual installments.
Interest on the loan is 2 percent per annum with 0.5 percent to cover administrative costs and the expenses in implementing the loan agreement.Attending the signing ceremony were Mr. Soulivong Dalavong, Minister of Energy and Mining, Kuwaiti Ambassador to Laos, Mr. Hafeez Hohammed Al Ajmi, and a number of senior officials.

EDL accelerates to clear electricity bad debts for Vientiane

(KPL) The Electricite du Laos (EDL) branch in Vientiane province has
accelerated to clear bad debts of electricity bills amounting to nearly 10 billion kip.
Acting Head of the Electricite du Laos branch in Vientiane province, Mr. Boun-oum Chanthalasy said currently Electricite du Laos�s debtors were government bodies, water pump stations of irrigation facilities, hotels and apartments, general businesses, entertainment sites and industrial factories.
Mr. Boun-oum said that the major debtor was Vientiane Province Administration Office with four billion kip, in which 1.5 billion kip has been unpaid since 2005.
Water pump stations owed over 4.3 billion kip and the rest are hotels and apartments, businesses, entertainment sites and industrial factories in the province.
Last December, the Electricite du Laos and the Finance Service of Vientiane province held a meeting in its efforts to settle the matter.
Electricite du Laos has presented two ways to the provincial finance service by setting up a new account for electricity debt clearance of state bodies in Vientiane province. For the other option, the Vientiane Administration Office was advised to use its provincial budget for clearing the bad debt of electricity bills. However, the two proposals are under consideration.

Thateng to electrify all its villages within 2010

(KPL) The Thateng Energy and Mining Office of Sekong province plans to increase the number of villages accessing electricity supply by 17, meaning that all villages in the district will gain an access to electricity by the end of this year.
�Thirty-eight villages or almost 70 per cent of villages in the district have gained an access to electricity so far,� said Head of the Thateng Energy and Mining Office Mr. Kin
thachack Phommachanh.
Over the last one year, the office has made an effort in the expansion and installation of power grid in 15 target villages across the district and over 90-km 22-kv power grid, 72-km 0.4-kv power line and over 1,100 electricity posts have been installed, according to Mr. Kinthachack.

Electricity supply in Saravane returns to normal

KPL) Electricite du Laos branch in Saravane province has put in about 108 million kip to restore the power grids hit by the tropical typhoon Ketsana.
Presently the staff of Electricite du Laos branch in Saravane province has completed the reinstallation and repair of the transmission line system in five districts of Nakhonpheng, Khong Sedon, Lao-ngam, Samouai and Ta-oi.
The achievements include the reinstallation of nine poles of medium-voltage transmission line and two poles of low-voltage electricity line in Nakhonpheng district, three poles in Khong Sedon district, two poles in Lao-ngam district with reinstallation of electricity line, two poles of medium-voltage in Samouai district and two poles of medium-voltage in Ta-oi district.

115-KV power grid installation project for Phonsavanh and Samneua

(KPL) A ground-breaking ceremony to commence a 115-KV transmission line installation project from Phonsavanh in Xiengkhouang province to Samneua in Houaphanh province was held on 24 December in Houaphanh province.
The installation will be carried out by a Chinese company with an investment of US$30.4 million, which is a loan from the Chinese government released to the Lao PDR. The construction is scheduled to be complete in two years.
The power grid installation from Phonsavanh to Samneua in Houaphanh province will stretch for 200 km.
The project includes the construction of a 115-KV substation at Thongnakhek village, Samneua district of the northeastern Houaphanh province.
Deputy Minister of Energy and Mining, Mr. Soulivong Dalavong; Governor of Houaphanh province, Dr. Phankham Viphavan; Acting Governor of Xiengkhouang province, Mr. Viengthanome Phommachanh, and officials concerned attended the ceremony.