Laos and Vietnam to join hand in hydropower development

(KPL) An MoU on the construction of the Dak-Imeun hydropower station, a co-operation project between Laos and Vietnam, was signed on 8 January in Vientiane between Mr. Thongmy Phommisay, Deputy-Minister of Planning and Investment, and Mr. May Huy Tan Tan, President of the Viet-Laos Power Development.
Mr. Somsavat Lengsavad, Standing Deputy Prime Minister who is also the Chairman of Laos- Vietnam Co-operation Committee, and Mr. Nguyen Sinh Hung, Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, and senior officials concerned from both sides witnessed the signing ceremony.
A feasibility study for the project will start after the signing of the MoU and the project will be constructed from 2009 to 2013 with a total investment of US$ 155 million.

Nam Ngum 2 hydro project to relocate 6,000 people

The Nam Ngum 2 hydroelectric power project in Vientiane province will relocate more than 6,000 people who will be displaced to make way for the reservoir.
They will move from Xaysomboun district to new homes in Meuang Feuang district.
The resettlement project involves the construction of three villages and is currently 30 percent complete, according to an employee of the Nam Ngum 2 project.
She made a report to the Minister of Energy and Mines, Dr Bosaikham Vongdara, and ministry staff during their visit to the new villages on December 15.
“Everyone will be moved to new homes before water is released from the dam in 2009,” Dr Bosaikham said during his visit.
Vientiane Governor Khammeuang Phongphakdy told Vientiane Times on the same occasion that the project would affect 16 villages and more than 1,000 families in one district. Nearly all residents would move to the three new villages being prepared for them.
“People are ready to move as soon as all the new buildings have been finished. Forty of the 1,000 families have other places to go, as most of them are government officials and have other facilities provided for them, as well as compensation,” Mr Khammeuang said.
He said the three new villages would each have a primary school, a lower secondary school, a market, a dispensary, a bus station, electricity, farmland, a 7-km asphalt road, clean water supply and other facilities.
A project employee reported that the resettlement area had more than 1,000 hectares of farmland and about 74 hectares on which to build new homes.
She said the resettlement project had set up a social and environmental unit to monitor the situation of the more than 1,000 relocated families.

By Panyasith Thammavongsa (Latest Update December 25, 2007)

Xeset 2 hydro project on track

Excavation of the headrace tunnel at the Xeset 2 hydropower plant ended on Friday in Lau-ngam district, Saravan province, after almost two years of work.

Work on the tunnel, which is more than 6,800 metres long, began in February last year.
“The headrace tunnel is the most difficult part of the project,” said Chinese Project Manager Wang Yan Tao, at a ceremony to celebrate the event.
Mr Wang said the excavation work was not only one of the most expensive parts of the project, but also involved unforeseen critical processes.
The completion of the tunnel was the basis for the on-time completion of the rest of the project, he said.
Construction of the whole plant is now 58 percent complete, after work began in November 2005.
“The project will be completed in August 2009; we are confident it will be completed on schedule in compliance with the specifications,” Mr Wang said.
The project is owned by Electricite du Laos (EDL), with construction being undertaken by the Norinco Construction Company of China .
It has an estimated cost of more than 1.2 trillion kip (US$135 million), with 80 percent financed by a loan from the Export Import Bank of China , and the other 20 percent contributed by EDL.
Mr Wang said his company and EDL now shared the investment, but Norinco would hand over the plant to EDL when it was complete, at which point EDL would repay its partner's share.
“The repayment period is 11 years, including the capital and interest,” said Lao Project Manager Souksavay Sipasop.
Xeset 2 will have 76MW of installed capacity, and will be able to produce more than 300GWh of electricity per year.
“About 20 percent of the energy will be exported to Thailand , but first we have to asses local power demand,” Mr Souksavay said.
The dam will be 23 metres high and 650 metres in length; it will have a small reservoir that will store only 800 cubic metres of water and an access road 39 kilometres long.
The Xeset 2 power source will lead to a significant increase of energy supply for EDL. It will ensure a more effective, accessible and reliable supply of electricity to the industrial and agricultural sectors - especially in rural and remote areas. The main objective is to serve the southern provinces.
According to the national economic development plan, 70 percent of the total population should have access to electricity by 2010 and 90 percent by 2020. Norinco is a giant enterprise group dealing mainly with defence products, international engineering construction, petroleum and mineral resources exploration, optic-electronic products, civilian explosives and chemical products, vehicles, and logistics operations.

By Phonsavanh Vongsay (Latest Update December 25, 2007)

Laos and Cambodia boost cooperation on Energy

(KPL) The Lao PDR will export 115 KV, 90 MW of electricity to the Royal of Cambodia since 2010. The contract for export of electricity to Cambodia was signed on 29 December in Phnom Penh, Cambodia between Mr Khammany Inthilath, Director General of the Lao Electricity State Enterprise, Ministry of Energy and Mines and Mr Hew Van Than, Deputy General of the Cambodia Electricity Enterprise.
Mr. Someboun Laszasombath, Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines of Laos, Mr Ispeng, Deputy Minister of Industrial, Mines and Energy of Cambodia, and senior officials concern from two countries witnessed the event.
Mr. Khammany Inthilath disclosed to the press that the signing of this contract was based on the MoU signed between the two sides on 2 November 2006 in Vientiane. According to the contract, the Lao side will build the 115 kv High Voltage transmission line from station of Ban Hat, Khong district, Champassak province to the Laos-Cambodia border check point with the length of 26 km with the US$ 2.7 million assistance from World Bank and 20% contributed fund of the Lao Electricity State Enterprise.
While the Cambodia side will construct the 115 KV transmission line system from its border to the electricity station of Xiengtang province with the length of 56 km.
The first phase of export will start from 2010-2014 and the sides then will further discuss about the next phases. The Cambodia is the second country in this region who buy electricity from Lao PDR. The electricity produced in the southern provinces dams of Laos will be divided for local consumption and export to Cambodia.

Thailand ups demand for Lao energy

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on energy development in Laos was signed between the Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Thai Ministry of Energy on Saturday in Vientiane.

“The MoU calls for Laos to provide 7,000MW of energy after 2015,” said the Lao Minister of Energy and Mines, Dr Bosaikham Vongdara, at the signing ceremony.

Dr Bosaikham said that under the agreement Laos will have to generate 5,000MW for sale to Thailand from now until 2015, and a further 2,000MW after this date.

The Lao government and hydropower developers are now building several plants to meet this demand.

These include the Theun-Hinboun expansion, Nam Ngum 3, Nam Ngiep 1, Nam Theun 1, and the Hongsa lignite-fired power plant project.

The Thai Minister of Energy, Dr Piyasavasti Amaranand, said at the ceremony that purchase agreements had already been signed for energy supply to Thailand, from power generated by the Nam Theun 2 (NT2) and Nam Ngum 2 (NN2). These projects are now under construction.

NT2 will have an installed capacity of 1,070MW and NN2 in Vientiane province will have an installed capacity of 615MW.

Dr Piyasavasti said Laos and Thailand have been cooperating in this field since 1992; in 1993 Thailand required only 1,500MW, but this had since increased dramatically.

Currently, about 10 projects, including hydro-power and lignite, are lined up to sell electricity to Thailand; all of these must be completed before 2015 and will have a combined installation capacity of more than 5,000MW. Many of these projects are being developed by individual investors.

Some have already begun generating electricity, while others are still in the planning or construction phase, or expanding their capacity.

Laos currently has a combined installation capacity of about 670MW from 11 major and 40 smaller and medium hydropower plants generating energy for both domestic and export markets. They generate about 3.5 billion kWh per year, of which about 2.2 billion kWh is exported to Thailand.

Export demand is still high, with Vietnam purchasing 3,000MW of electricity from now until 2020.

By 2020, the government aims to have 29 major hydropower development schemes in place, with a total capacity of about 8,657MW, said the Deputy Director General of the Lao Energy Promotion and Development Department, Mr Xaypaseuth Phomsoupha, in an interview in June.


By Phonsavanh Vongsay
(Latest Update December 24, 2007)