The largest hydropower plant in Laos,
the Namthone 2, began exporting electricity to Thailand at commercial
prices, reported the Namthone 2 company on March 17.
The plant, which operated all of its four turbines on March 15, also
started selling electricity to the Electricity Company of Laos.
The Namthone 2 plant in the central Lao province of Kham Muone has a design capacity of 1,070 MW.
The project began construction in November 2005 at a cost of 1.4
billion USD, a joint venture between the Lao Government and several
foreign investors.
The factory is expected to earn 80 million USD annually on average and 2 billion USD over 25 years.
The Lao Government pledged to use this income for its poverty reduction programmes.
Laos is likely to put into operation three other hydropower plants for commercial purposes later this year.
There are 10 hydro-electricity plants operational across Laos while 17
hydropower projects are in the making and 45 others are in the early
stages of feasibility study./.