Dr Sthabandith Insisiengmay (right) and Sounthone Sabandith shake hands after signing the agreement. - Photo: Vientiane Times/ANN
VIENTIANE: The Lao government on Wednesday (June 19) signed a concession agreement with an investor to develop a 124 MW hydropower project, boosting the country’s efforts to promote clean energy consumption and export to countries in the region.
The Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, Dr Sthabandith Insisiengmay, and the Managing Director of Nam Neun 1 Hydropower Sole Co Ltd, Sounthone Sabandith, inked the deal in Vientiane to push forward the Nam Neun 1 Hydropower project in Xieng Khuang and Huaphan provinces.
Those present at the signing ceremony included Xieng Khuang province’s Governor Bounchanh Sivongphanh, the Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines, Chanthaboun Soukaloun, the Deputy Governor of Huaphan, Phonsouk Inthavong, and senior representatives from both sides.
The construction of the US$360.6-million project is expected to be completed in the next four or five years, with commercial operations set for 2028.
Once it is operational, the project will increase the country’s hydroelectric power generation capacity and boost energy exports.
Power from the project, which is expected to generate 576 GWh annually, will be sold to neighbouring Vietnam.
The project’s manager, Soulideth Baomanikhot, said at the event where the agreement was signed that a 33-km transmission line of 110kV will connect the hydropower plant to Nam Yeuang hydropower plant’s power station, from where a 220-kV transmission line will transfer power further across the Lao-Vietnamese border toward Nong Cong power station inside Vietnam.
According to the manager, the project is expected to generate as much as US$91.2 million in loyalty fee and profit tax to the state during the concession period. - Vientiane Times/ANN
