By PHONSAVANH VONGSAY
Vientiane Times/ANN
VIENTIANE, LAOS: By 2020 Laos hopes to have energy generation with an installed capacity of 30,000MW from hydropower projects being built or planned along the Mekong River and its tributaries.
The government hopes to increase capacity from the present forecast of 8,657MW to 30,000MW, including proposals to dam the Mekong River .
"However, this figure may change as there may be alterations to some projects. It may be higher or lower than estimated," said the Deputy Director General of the Electricity Department, Dr Daovong Phonekeo, in an interview recently.
Laos may achieve its goal of 30,000MW now that energy investors are studying hydropower projects in several sites on the Mekong River .
The figure includes 8,657MW to be generated by the 29 proposed major hydropower developments on branches of the Mekong River .
"When the study is complete, investors will discuss with the sectors concerned which sites will be economical and should be developed," Dr Daovong said. "The study may discover new sites that can be dammed."
Dr Daovong said the projected output figures will depend on the technology and methods employed. For example, generation by the Nam Theun 2 hydropower plant in Khammuan province was initially predicted at about 600MW, but this figure is now 1,070MW.
The government has permitted foreign energy investors, from China , Thailand and Vietnam , to conduct project surveys. Investors are now working at five sites along the Mekong River that may have a potential capacity below 10,000MW. The studies seek to understand the possible impacts on the environment, community and economy.
"A pre-feasibility study was carried out on Mekong River projects in past years but the government didn't allow the project to go ahead because it first wants to develop sites on other rivers," Dr Daovong said.
Dr Daovong said the basic surveys of the Mekong were conducted by an international organisation. There are six possible dam sites in Laos and two sites on the border of Laos and Thailand .
The Lao government announced at the 10 th Asean Summit held in 2004 in Vientiane that its intention was for Laos to eventually become the ‘battery of the region'.
Laos has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide 7,000MW of energy after 2015 to Thailand , and 3,000MW of electricity from now until 2020 to Vietnam .
The representatives of the energy sectors in Laos and Cambodia recently signed a purchase agreement for the supply of about 5MW by the end of 2009. However, there is no MoU to officially certify the terms of the sale.
Laos currently has a combined installation capacity of about 670MW from 11 major and 40 medium-sized hydropower plants generating energy for both the domestic and export markets. They generate approximately 3.5 billion kWh per year, of which about 2.2 billion kWh is exported to Thailand.
The government hopes to increase capacity from the present forecast of 8,657MW to 30,000MW, including proposals to dam the Mekong River .
"However, this figure may change as there may be alterations to some projects. It may be higher or lower than estimated," said the Deputy Director General of the Electricity Department, Dr Daovong Phonekeo, in an interview recently.
Laos may achieve its goal of 30,000MW now that energy investors are studying hydropower projects in several sites on the Mekong River .
The figure includes 8,657MW to be generated by the 29 proposed major hydropower developments on branches of the Mekong River .
"When the study is complete, investors will discuss with the sectors concerned which sites will be economical and should be developed," Dr Daovong said. "The study may discover new sites that can be dammed."
Dr Daovong said the projected output figures will depend on the technology and methods employed. For example, generation by the Nam Theun 2 hydropower plant in Khammuan province was initially predicted at about 600MW, but this figure is now 1,070MW.
The government has permitted foreign energy investors, from China , Thailand and Vietnam , to conduct project surveys. Investors are now working at five sites along the Mekong River that may have a potential capacity below 10,000MW. The studies seek to understand the possible impacts on the environment, community and economy.
"A pre-feasibility study was carried out on Mekong River projects in past years but the government didn't allow the project to go ahead because it first wants to develop sites on other rivers," Dr Daovong said.
Dr Daovong said the basic surveys of the Mekong were conducted by an international organisation. There are six possible dam sites in Laos and two sites on the border of Laos and Thailand .
The Lao government announced at the 10 th Asean Summit held in 2004 in Vientiane that its intention was for Laos to eventually become the ‘battery of the region'.
Laos has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide 7,000MW of energy after 2015 to Thailand , and 3,000MW of electricity from now until 2020 to Vietnam .
The representatives of the energy sectors in Laos and Cambodia recently signed a purchase agreement for the supply of about 5MW by the end of 2009. However, there is no MoU to officially certify the terms of the sale.
Laos currently has a combined installation capacity of about 670MW from 11 major and 40 medium-sized hydropower plants generating energy for both the domestic and export markets. They generate approximately 3.5 billion kWh per year, of which about 2.2 billion kWh is exported to Thailand.
No comments:
Post a Comment