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A group of Thai developers is one step closer to building a hydropower plant with an installed capacity of 1,260 megawatts (MW) in Xayaboury province. The Ministry of Planning and Investment signed a project development agreement with Ch Karnchang Public Company Limited and PT Construction & Irrigation Company Limited of Thailand on Tuesday, 25th November 2008 in Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR. The agreement was signed after the developers had completed a feasibility study under the Xayaboury Hydroelectric Power Project abd concluded its outlooks was promissing, according to a press release. The developers signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Lao government in May, 2007 to conduct a survey and feasibility study. |
shankes hands and exchanges agreements with
Mr. Plew Trivisavet, Chief Executive Officer of Ch Karnchang Company Limited
Project construction costs are expected to be about 22 trillion kip (more than US$ 2.5 billion or 90 billion Thai baht), according to the press release.)
From the initial study the project will be a run of river dam development, to be located on the Mekong River in Xayaboury district. It also will cover an area of Nan district in Luangprabang province.
Under the new contract, the developers will conduct further studies and preparations over the next two years, after which concession, construction and other related contracts will be executed.
Ch Karnchang Company Limited Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Plew Trivisavet, said that: developers would start preparatory construction work for the project in early 2010, and were expected to complete construction within seven to eight years, with partial opening phases.
The visitors will be granted the right to operate the project under a concession contract for 27 years, with the right to extend the concession for two five - year periods.
The plant's 10 turbine units will supply a total energy outout about 7,400 gigawatt hours per year. About 10 percent of the power generated will be reserved for local consumption while 90 percent will be sold to the Electicity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT).
Laos has MOU in place to provide a total of 5,000 MW of hydropower to Thailand by 2015 and a further 2,000 MW by 2020.
There are 11 major hydropower plants and 36 smaller ones in operation. These generate energy for both domestic and export markets abd have a combined installed capacity of more than 670 MW. The 36 smalller hydro power plants are all government owned.
Together, they generate approximately 3.5 billion KWh of power per year, of which about 2.2 billion is expected to Thailand.
Laos has the potential to generate a total of about 26,500 MW from hydro power sources, excluding the mainstream Mekong River: Of this, about 18,000 MW is technically exploitable. About 12,500 MW can be potentially generated by sources in the major Mekong sub-basins and the reminder in minor Mekong or non-Mekong basins.
Less than two percent of the country's hydropower potential has been developed over the past 30 years, according to the Department of Energy Promotion and Development, Ministry of Energy and Mines.