Lao PM mulls forestry protection for sustainable hydropower

According to the Ministry of Energy and Mines' strategic plan, Laos has the potential to produce about 10,000MW of electricity by 2020 and 20,000MW by 2030.

But Laos will not meet the target if forestry resources continue to be destroyed each year, Thongloun warned at a meeting on energy and mines development from now until 2020, the strategy to 2025, and the vision to 2030.

Speaking at the meeting in Vientiane yesterday, he advised the ministry and other sectors to pay more attention to feasibility studies and to estimate the societal and environmental impacts of hydropower development projects together with developers before approving any more schemes.

Local people should also participate in and benefit from project development through agricultural promotion and livestock breeding for sustainable income in order to reduce slash and burn cultivation, he added.

Laos should be receiving greater benefits from hydropower projects to improve people's living conditions as well as generate more revenue for government coffers for use in the country's social and economic development, Thongloun said.

He observed that some hydropower projects have been highly beneficial to local people and contributed to socio-economic development while others have suffered from limited investment funding, or a lack of experience and technical expertise.

He believed that the feedback and experience gained from these projects would help to increase the capacity of Lao leaders and technical staff in negotiations and discussions with investors to ensure greater benefits for the nation.

Thongloun said hydropower development should focus on three goals, those being improvement of people's living conditions, the industrial supply of electricity, and electricity for export earnings.

In previous years, the energy and mines sector has been the main contributor in terms of socio-economic development contributions, especially towards Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Over the last five years from 2011-2015, the value of energy and mines products reached 94.3 trillion kip. Compared to 2006-2010 this represented an increase of 9.22 percent and comprised about 12 percent of GDP, Minister of Energy and Mines Dr Khammany Inthirath reported.

A total of 40 hydropower projects have so far been completed in Laos, which have a combined installed capacity of 6,304 MW and are valued at around US$10 billion, he said.

About 91 percent of the country's households now have access to electricity. Meanwhile power is also exported to neighbouring countries notably Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia, with the network currently being expanded to Myanmar, Dr Khammany said.

Electricity exports last year increased by a factor of four compared to 2010, generating revenue of more than US$300 million per year for the government budget, a trend which is expected to increase.

Renewable energy developments such as solar power, biomass and wind were also carried out by the ministry.

Currently, some 12,789 families in remote areas far from the grid have access to solar powered electricity.