Vientiane Times, 28 August 2013

The Lao and foreign joint venture energy developer Nam Ngiep 1 Power Co Ltd expects to start work on the Nam Ngiep 1 hydropower project in Borikhamxay province next year.

“Construction will take about five years to complete and should be finished by January 2019,” the company’s Managing Director, Mr Yoshihiro Yamabayashi, said when signing the project concession agreement yesterday.

The company signed the agreement with the Lao government at the Ministry of Planning and Investment in Vientiane.

The signing ceremony was attended by Energy and Mines Deputy Minister Dr Khammany Inthirath, officials from Electricite du Laos (EDL), Borikhamxay province, representatives from the Japanese and Thai Embassies to Laos, and the private sector.

“Before starting the main construction work, we will have to build an access road to the project site by the end of this year,” Mr Yoshihiro said.

The project is a reservoir-type hydropower plant with a total capacity of 290 megawatts (MW) that will generate about 1,550GWh of electricity per year.

The project has been planned on a Build-Operate-Transfer basis by a private company, aiming to sell electricity to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), which will receive 93 percent, while the remaining 7 percent will be sold to EDL, for a period of 27 years.

“Investment in the project amounts to about 3.9 trillion kip (US$500 million) to 7.8 trillion kip (US$1 billion),” Mr Yoshihiro revealed.

Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. from Japan will be the largest shareholder, with 45 percent, while Thailand’s EGAT International Co., Ltd. will hold 30 percent and Lao Holding State Enterprise will hold 25 percent.

The dam site is 150km northeast of Vientiane and will use water from the Nam Ngiep River, a tributary of the Mekong.