Deal #6599 Version #76285

Accessed on 31/12/2014: "Houay Lamphan Gnai (HLG) Hydropower project is owned by EDL and the EPC is carried out by China Gezhouba Group Co. Ltd (CGGC). The project is located in the Thanteng district and about 40 km west of Sekong River, flow to the northwest on the tableland of the Bolaven Plateau and make a U-turn after dropping from the northern rim of the plateau. The HLG project is designed utilize a vertical drop of some 612 m between the top and bottom of the escarpment with a relatively short waterway to the propose powerhouse site. An install capacity of 88 MW and the average annual generation capacity is 480 GWh/Yearm, the generation power supplied to Champassak, Sekong , Attapeu and Saravanh province via the Southern Power grid."

Accessed on 31/12/2014: Impoundment ceremony of power station

Construction site clearly visible on Bing Maps satellite images. Accessed on 31/12/2014

2015-11-11

Vientiane Times report on 11/11/2015: "The government-owned Houay Lamphan gnai hydropower plant will officially start commercial operation on Saturday in Thataeng district, Xekong province, after over four years in construction. “We finished construction and started testing energy generation on September 3, two months ahead of schedule,” Electricite du Laos (EDL)’s Power Plant Development Department Deputy Director, Mr Vongsakoun Yingyong, said yesterday. The dam will generate electricity for the national power grid for supply to the southern provinces, where the demand for power is increasing rapidly. Mr Vongsakoun said electricity will also be sold to Thailand and Cambodia. The dam has a capacity of 88MW and will generate 480 million kWh per year. The powerhouse is equipped with two sets of impulse turbines of 44MW each. EDL ploughed about 1.68 trillion kip (US$206 million) into the hydro plant through a loan from China’s Exim bank. The loan is to be repaid within 15 years after the dam becomes operational. The project contractor is the China gezhouba group Company Limited. [...]"

2015-11-16

Vientiane Times report on 16/11/2015: "The Houay Lamphan Gnai hydropower plant, one of the stated-owned hydropower projects, switched on its generators to commence commercial operations on Saturday in Xekong province. The official opening ceremony was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad, alongside Minister of Energy and Mines Dr Khammany Inthirath, Electricite du Laos (EDL) Managing Director Mr Sisavath Thiravong, the governors of four southern provinces and other invited guests. The project’s Director Mr Souliya Chanthavong told the media that the dam has a capacity of 88 MW and will be able to generate 480 GWh per year. “The project is financed by the Lao government to a total cost of US$206 million, of which some US$199 million is a loan from China’s Exim Bank while the remaining US$7 million came from EDL,” he said. Construction of the project was carried out by the China Gezhouba Group Company Limited and scheduled to take 60 months to complete but in fact it finished ahead of schedule. The dam is 820 metres above sea level and has a reservoir area of some seven square kilometres. The powerhouse is equipped with two sets of impulse turbines at a capacity of 44 MW each. [...]"