New MoU with Laos likely to hike power purchase

Ministry of Energy permanent secretary Kulit Sombatsiri said that the project will be a part of Thailand’s Power Development Plan, which consists of alternative energy, energy conservation and natural gas management projects that had been previously approved by the Cabinet.
“Laos has offered to sell 4,000-5,000MW of electricity, which is higher than the limit and will require further negotiations,” he said. “It is expected that once the project is approved, import will start from 2026 onwards at the rate of 700MW per year.”
Kulit added that Thailand had signed a PPA (power purchase agreement) with Laos to buy 9,000MW, while purchase of the first lot of 6,000MW had already been approved earlier this year, but the buying of the rest was postponed from the original first quarter of 2020 deadline due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Meanwhile, Kijja Sripatthangkura, chief executive officer at Ratch Group Plc, said that the company had submitted a proposal to sell electricity from Xekong 4A and 4B Hydroelectric Power Plant in Laos to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand. “If the proposal is approved, we expect that the project will have commercial operation date within 2026,” he said.
The Xekong 4A and 4B Hydroelectric Power Plant has a capacity of 340MW under the investment budget of $835 million. Ratch Group holds a 60 per cent share in the project while the rest is jointly held by Lao World Engineering & Construction Limited and B.Grimm Power Pcl.