LAOS AIMS to use Monsoon Wind Power, Asean’s largest wind farm to be built by a Thai developer, as an exemplary prototype for Asean
Monsoon Wind Power is a 600-megawatt wind-farm project that will be the largest in Asean. The site covers two districts in southern Laos – Dak Cheung in Sekong province and Sanxay in Attapeu province.
The project has been developed by a Thai renewable-energy firm, Impact Electrons Siam Co.
Laos has high hopes for the project and views it as a prototype for the development of the country’s alternative-energy source, which has the potential to support a sustainable energy future for all.
Chantho Milattanpheng, deputy director of the Institute of Renewable Energy and Promotion under the Laotian Ministry of Energy and Mines, pointed out the potential of Monsoon Wind Power as a major advance in Laos’ alternative-energy sector while giving a speech at the “Sustainable Energy and Technology Asia Exhibition and Conference”.
Benefits for all
He said the wind farm would undoubtedly benefit all parties, including Laos, Thailand or even the Asean region, since it is expected to have Asean’s largest wind-energy capacity, generate clean energy to be sold at a fair price and promote the well-being of the community surrounding the project site.
In an effort to facilitate alternative-energy development, Laos plans to increase renewable energy to 30 per cent of the total energy supply by 2025.
The 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) held in Paris last December saw delegates from Thailand, Laos and 144 other countries sign a pact that aims to avert the rise in global temperatures beyond the threshold of 2 degrees Celsius.
At this forum Thailand also pledged to cut emissions of greenhouse gas by 20-25 per cent by 2030 from 2010 levels, equivalent to a cut in GHG emissions of about 111 million to 139 million tonnes.
Monsoon Wind Power is expected to avoid 67 million tonnes of GHG emissions throughout the project lifecycle compared with fossil-fuel power plants.
Thailand’s Cabinet on April 5 gave its approval to the country’s participation in the “Partnership for Market Readiness” programme, under which the World Bank will provide Thailand, as a PMR member, with a US$3-million (Bt105 million) grant for the development of initiatives that will help Thailand achieve its GHG emission-reduction goal.
According to World Bank statistics, Thailand is the 22nd-largest GHG emitter in the world and the fifth-largest in the East Asia and Pacific region.
Over the past decade, the energy sector has been the most important source of GHG emissions in the country.
Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Laos-promotes-Thai-built-wind-farm-on-Asean-stage-30284861.html
