BEIJING (Reuters) – State-owned power company China General Nuclear has signed an agreement with Laos expanding a planned renewable energy base in the country’s northern region, the state-run People’s Daily reported on Monday.
The latest deal adds a second phase of the project that will include a 580 megawatt (MW) wind and solar plant in Luang Namtha province and a 420 MW solar plant in Oudomxay province.
It follows on an initial agreement signed by the two sides last September to build a renewable energy base in the north of the country.
Preparations have started for construction on the first phase, a 1000MW solar plant in Oudomxay province, according to the report.
The first phase of the project was set to feed into an existing power line that transfers power generated in Laos to China’s southern Yunnan province. The report did not specify whether the power from the second phase would be exported to China.
Laos Vice Minister of Energy and Mines Thongpath Inthavon was quoted in the report saying that the project would increase power sector connectivity between northern Laos and China.
Southern Power Grid, one of China’s two main grid companies, has been jointly running Laos’ power grid since February, when its joint venture with state-run Electricite du Laos, known as Electricite du Laos Transmission Company, started operations.
Mountainous Laos has produced about 80% of its electricity from hydropower over the last decade but has struggled to scale up solar and wind.
Electricity exports, which also go to neighbouring Thailand and Vietnam, have formed a key part of the development strategy of landlocked Laos, which has been dubbed the battery of Southeast Asia.
Since 2021 a policy push to scale up data centres have also made it a hub for operators of cryptocurrency mines, which seek cheap non-fossil power.
But the higher demand, coupled with lower rainfall, have strained Laos’ hydro resources, forcing it to become a net power importer since 2021.
(Reporting by Colleen Howe; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
