Govt body to regulate energy facilities

Compliance with the Lao Electrical Power Technical Standard (LEPTS) will soon be assured at power facilities across the country through the establishment of a new regulatory body.

“The LEPTS regulatory unit is key to securing the sustainable implementation of the standard,” said the First Secretary of the Japanese Embassy to Laos , Mr Ken Nakamura, at a launch seminar for the unit in Vientiane last week.

He added that having the unit would accelerate compliance to the standard by electricity companies.

“I would like all electrical facilities to apply the LEPTS in the near future,” Mr Nakamura said.

Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines, Mr Somboun Rasasombath, commented that compliance with the standard would contribute to the improvement of investment transparency in Laos .

At the seminar participants took part in activities related to the implementation of the standard, including examining example documents and learning to inspect facilities.

“This will enable us to provide electricity to the people of Laos and to neighbouring countries safely,” Mr Somboun said.

There are currently over 30 independent power producer projects at various stages of planning and construction in Laos , the biggest being Nam Theun 2.

“I hope the LEPTS will be applied to these projects under the guidance of the regulatory unit,” said Mr Nakamura.

The standard will also apply to domestic power transmission equipment, such as the 115kV transmission line from Pakxan district in Borikhamxay province to Pakbo village in Savannakhet province.

“This project, which will comply with LETPS, has a significant role in extending the national grid,” said Mr Somboun.

The launch of the regulatory unit was a defining moment as it was the first time a permanent official body in the Lao government had been established in accordance with technical assistance from another country, in this case the Japanese government.

Mr Nakamura said that electricity was a driving force for development in Laos , and the energy sector has two important roles in exporting electricity to the region and satisfying growing domestic needs.

Step 1 of the project to formulate standards in the power industry began in 2000 and ended in 2003, and saw the compilation of manuals detailing the standards, in cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The standard came into effect in February 2004. The second step, again supported by JICA, was to develop capacity, improve documentation and establish the regulatory body. Work on this phase began in January 2005 and will be complete in March next year.

By Phonsavanh Vongsay
(Latest Update October 16, 2007)
www.vientianetimes.org.la

Nam Ou hydro project moves to next phase

Sinohydro Corporation Ltd of China signed a development agreement with the Lao government on Monday for the Nam Ou Hydropower Project in Phongsaly and Luang Prabang provinces.
The Assistant Managing Director of Sinohydro Corporation Ltd, Mr Shen Decai ( left ), and the Vice President of the Committee for Planning and Investment, Mr Thongmy Phomvixay, shake hands after signing the agreement.
Director General of the Electricity Department Mr Houmphone Bulyaphol said at the signing that the project would cost between 6.7 trillion and 7.7 trillion kip (US$700 to 800 million).
The dam will be a joint venture between the Chinese company and the Lao government, which will hold 20 to 25 percent of the share.
“The investor will begin construction in 2009 with completion scheduled for 2015,” said an official from the Committee for Planning and Investment.
The company has completed a one-year feasibility study for the project and is currently analysing the potential environmental impacts before construction begins.
“Once the work is completed, the project will have an installation capacity of about 500 to 600MW,” said Mr Houmphone.
The project will sell 50 to 70MW of this to Electricite du Laos (EDL), and the rest is likely to be exported to Thailand or China . “The company is now discussing with EDL how much power they need to buy for domestic consumption,” Mr Houmphone said.
The Chinese company will operate the project for 30 years, including the construction period.
The Assistant Managing Director of Sinohydro Corporation Ltd, Mr Shen Decai, said the project was part of strategies to help supply energy to the Mekong sub-region as well as to Asean countries.
“It is also a project to create further belief in investment in Laos ,” Mr Shen added.
Mr Houmphone said this would be the biggest of four hydropower projects on the Nam Ou, all of which would be developed by the same company.
“Once these four dams are built, they will have a total installation capacity of about 1,300MW,” Mr Houmphone said.


By Phonsavanh Vongsay (Latest Update October 17, 2007)

Lignite Power Plant in Sayaboury in progress

(KPL) More than 300 families in five villages living near Hongsa Lignite Power Plant Construction Project site in Xayaboury province might be removed to new resettlement area if the agreement on electricity purchasing reached between investor and purchaser at the end of this year.The Hongsa Lignite Power Plant Construction Project has been invested by Hongsa Company since 2006 but now the construction work is suspended due to deficiency of finance. At the moment, the Hongsa Lignite Power Plant Construction Project has been taken over by the Ban Pou Company of Thailand after Hongsa Company has announced to suspend this project. Before carrying out the survey of feasibility study, developers of the Lignite Power Plant in Xayaboury Province has pledged to provide with about US$16 million to compensate to affecting villagers for resettlement areas. Mr. Sao Khamchan, Head of Energy and Mines Office of Xayaboury province disclosed yesterday that the Lignite Power Plant Construction Project is having a disputation between owner project and customer.The negotiation of purchasing the electricity from the Hongsa Power Plant is being under the discussion, he continued.If the project does not meet agreement the construction work would be sure delayed. Now two sides are discussing on mutual benefit bases on mutual understanding and cooperation in effectively that reflected to positively target plan on supplying the electricity by 2013. The Lignite Power Plant in Xayaboury province was invested by Thai investor, with an expectation of investment approximately more than US$1 billion with capacity production of 1,200 Megawatt.

Vientiane's street lighting

Today let's come back to my life's story. I told about the story of my work in Luang Prabang in 1993 to 1997 in the previous articles. Now I will tell you about my work in Vientiane. In 1997 Laos capital was called Vientiane prefecture. The street lighting in the capital was not improved since 1975. In the capital street light could be seen in a few main roads. The roads were also not in good condition.

That year there was a big plan for road improvement as well as street lighting. My company was hired for street lighting design for six roads. At that time I worked as an AutoCAD draftsman. I began to get acquainted to new terms like: street lighting lamp, street lighting fixture, hand holes, ... I had opportunity to work with French specialists who told me how they design street lighting in France.

Now the improvements of many roads in that project was completed together with new street lighting with yellow light replacing the old street lighting lamp with white color light.

EDL offers help with problem bills

Electricity users are welcome to check their bills at the office of the Electricite du Laos (EDL) if they have any queries, an official from the enterprise said on Monday.
EDL staff are there to help consumers solve problems if they feel anything on their monthly electricity bill is not clear, Mr Somphone said.
“We have full information on all electricity bill payments from 2003 to 2007,” he said.
Many people come to ask staff at EDL about the rates charged for the electricity they consume in a particular month, especially if the amount of power they consume seems to be the same as normal.
Mr Duangphachanh, a resident of Dongsavad village in Sisattanak district, Vientiane , is one such person.
He said he regularly paid about 140,000 kip per month from January to July this year, but last month received a bill for 900,000 kip.
“I was shocked when I received the bill,” he said.
He said he did not understand why his bill was so high, as he had not bought any extra electrical appliances for use in his house.
He called the electricity office to check his metre, and the staff who came said the device was working fine. They advised him to check with the EDL office.
When he did so, he was told he had not paid his bill for the past two months. He looked into the matter further and received a different answer.
“I was told that the bill for August should not be 900,000 kip, but 500,000 kip,” he said.
However, he had already paid the 900,000 kip as stated. “I'm still investigating the matter with EDL,” he said.
He said it was possible that charges could rise from 140,000 to 900,000 kip if electrical appliances or wiring was old and malfunctioning.

By Khonesavanh Latsaphao (Latest Update September 04, 2007)
http://www.vientianetimes.org.la/FreeContent/FreeContent_EDL.htm