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. [...]"