The Thai energy group Gulf has acquired, through an affiliate, a 60% stake in the 770 MW Pak Lay hydropower project in Lao from the Chinese state-owned group Sinohydro for a total investment value of around US$128m. The power project, on the Mekong River, Pak Lay, Xayaburi Province, was previously owned by Sinohydro (60%) and Gulf (40%), which now owns 100% of the power plant. It is scheduled to commence commercial operation in 2032 and has signed a 29-year Power Purchase Agreement with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) to sell all electricity to EGAT. The project is a run-of-the-river hydropower plant that does not store water in the form of a reservoir or divert water from the Mekong River, but uses the natural flow of water to generate electricity, where the amount of water inflow equals the amount of water outflow.
Electricity exports are very high in Lao and represented 76% of total production in 2023, with around 39 TWh. Lao was the world’s fourth largest power exporter in 2023. Around 6 GW of hydropower projects are under construction and nearly 11 GW are planned, mostly for export to neighbouring countries, especially Thailand and Vietnam.
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