Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Plc (RATCH) is joining with Korean and Laotian partners to develop the 27-billion-baht Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydroelectric power plant in Laos.
Ratchaburi, Thailand’s largest private power producer, will hold 25% of a new joint operating company for the 390- megawatt plant. Another 26% will be held by Korea-based SK Engineering and Construction, 25% by Korea Western Power (Kowepo), and 24% by Lao Holding State Enterprise (LHSE).
“The Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy project marks a significant milestone in the company’s investment expansion in Laos,” said Ratchaburi CEO Noppol Milinthanggoon.
The development would increase the company’s total generating capacity to 5,648 megawatts based on its shareholdings in existing plants and new ones under development, he added.
Ratchaburi has allocated 2.025 billion baht for its capital investment in the project. It expects to conclude a power purchase agreement with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) by the end of this year. A memorandum of understanding on tariffs was signed in August last year.
The Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy plant site is located in an area straddling Attapue and Champasak provinces in south of Laos.
The plant is scheduled to start producing electricity by 2018, to be transmitted via Egat’s 500-kilovolt line in Ubon Ratchathani province. Thai authorities have already included output from the plant in the national Power Development Plan that was updated in 2010.
Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy is the fourth investment project by Ratchaburi in Laos following the Nam Ngum 2 and 3 hydroelectric plants and the Hongsa Lignite coal-fired power plant.
RATCH shares closed yesterday on the SET at 40.75 baht, down 1.25, in trade worth 46.5 million baht.
Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/242645/ratchaburi-powers-up-in-laos
