Govt gives the green light to hydropower projects in Sekong and Attapue

(KPL) The government has allowed a Russian company Region Oil LLC to develop hydropower projects Sekong IV in Sekong province and Nam Kong I in Atapue province.

The agreement on the development of the hydropower projects were signed on
Monday by Deputy Minister of Investment and Planing, Mr. Thongmy Phommisay,
and Director of Region Oil LLC, Mr. Oleg Akabardin at the witness of
officials of both sides.

Under the agreement, the investor will spend 18 months for constructing the
two hydropower plants on the Sekong River and Nam Kong. On
build-operate-transfer basis, the investor has been allowed to run the
business after completing the construction of the plants for 30 years before
transferring them to the Lao government.
The government holds 20% of the investment shares and the investor take the rest.

It is estimated that Nam Kong I plant will generate 469 GWH a year and
Sekong IV will produce 1,901 GWH annually. The construction cost is
projected to be between 1.4 trillion kip and 1.6 trillion kip for Nam Kong I
and 5.2 trillion kip for Sekong IV.