Chinese Firms to Study Lao Power Project

VIENTIANE - The Lao government has approved plans by two Chinese
companies to conduct a 30-month survey for the feasibility of
developing the Paklay Hydroelectric Power Project in Xayaboury province.

The survey, performed by the Sinohydro Corp Ltd and the China
National Electronics Import and Export Corp, aims to cover technical,
economic, social and environmental considerations. Should these
results confirm economic viability, further project agreements
involving the development phase and concession agreements for the dam
construction would proceed.

A Jun. 11 press statement on the signing of the Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) stated that the Lao government plans for the
1,320-megawatt Paklay Hydroelectric Power Project to “supply domestic
consumers and export (electricity) to neighbouring countries”. This
is in light of the increase in demand for electricity in neighbouring
countries such as Thailand, where the demand of 1,500 megawatts in
1993 rose to 5,000 mw at the end of 2006.

At present, the main electricity supply for the province comes
from both imported Thai electricity, as well as electricity from the
Nam Ngum 1 Hydropower plant in Vietnam. An official from Electricite
du Laos in Xayaboury province said recently that imports in 2006 rose
to more than 15 million kilowatt hours (kwh), from about 6 million
kwh from Thailand in 2002.

The managing director of Sinohydro Corp, Zeng Xingliang, said
investments of about 16.2 trillion kip (1.68 billion U.S. dollars) by
the two Chinese companies are to be expected. (Source: Vientiane
Times, Jun. 13, 2007)=