Nam Theun 2, the largest hydroelectricity power plants in Laos, has begun exporting electricity to Thailand, creating a new major source of revenue for the landlocked nation. The Nam Theun 2 Power Company yesterday announced it had begun the supply of 1.000 MW of electricity to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand at commercial rates. Four export production turbines at the 1.088MW power plant in the central province of Khammuan began full generation on Monday. The sale of electricity generated by the plant to Electricite du Laos (EDL), a state-owned enterprise, has also begun. Construction of the US$ 1.4 billion hydropower plants began in 2005. It was scheduled to begin delivering power to the Lao grid and for export to Thailand in December 2009. However, technical problems caused full operation to be postponed until early this year. The shareholders are Electricite de France (35 percent), the government-owned Lao Holding State Enterprise (25 percent), the Electricity Generating Public Company of Thailand (25 percent), and the Italian-Thai Development Public Company of Thailand (15 percent). At present, Laos has 10 hydropower plants that are operational. Another 17 plants are in the planning stage and 45 more are undergoing feasibility studies.
Source: Vientiane Times
