Certain members of the foreign media have hailed Laos as the “battery of Southeast Asia,” with one of the nation’s economic development strategies centered on the export of electricity to Thailand and other neighboring countries.
With 42 power plants now operational, the country is poised to realize its electricity ambitions. With a current installed capacity of approximately 6,000MW, the Lao government expects to achieve 14,000MW by 2020.
Laos plans to install: 54 more electricity transmission lines and build another 16 substations by 2020
Current number of high voltage electricity transmission lines: 53,000km
Current number of high voltage electricity substations: 53 substations
Transmission lines that connect with neighbouring countries: 14 carry power to Thailand, 2 to Vietnam, 1 to China, 2 to Cambodia, and 1 to Myanmar.
Households that have access to electricity: 92 percent of households nationwide
Alternative renewable energy sources being considered: solar power, biomass and wind turbines (12,789 families – 1.15 percent of all families across the country – are using solar power)
Current number of operational power plants: 42 (with installed capacity of 6,391MW; generating about 33,822 GWh annually (primarily for export)
Operation of power plants: 15 are managed by the Government (EDL and EDL-GEN) with an installed capacity of 738.5MW; 27 are managed by independent power producers and have an installed capacity of 5,652.45MW
Types of power plants: 39 hydropower plants, 1 coal-burn lignite plant, and 2 sugarcane-powered plants
Number of power plants soon to be completed in 2017: 12 (expected installed capacity of 468.45MW and will generate electricity at an average of 1,872.92 GWh per year)
Number of power plants soon to be completed by 2020: 53 hydropower plants under construction or in the planning stage, including those set to be completed this year; there will be more than 90 hydropower plants in Laos with a combined installed capacity of almost 14,000MW by 2020.
Source: Vientiane Times
