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Friday, February 28, 2025
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Laos, China 500kV Link to Drive Clean Energy Growth and ASEAN Connectivity

This Week

On 26 February, Laos launched the Lao-China 500-kilovolt Interconnection Project with a ceremony in Vientiane Capital. This project is part of a broader effort to enhance regional energy integration.

Phoxay Sayasone, Laos’ Minister of Energy and Mines, explained that the system will connect Laos’ power grid with neighboring countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and China.

Expected to be completed by 2026, the interconnection will allow power transmission to begin that year. Once operational, it will facilitate the exchange of 1,500 megawatts of electricity between Laos and China, along with the transmission of around 3 billion kilowatt-hours of clean energy annually, boosting the energy sector in both countries.

The initiative is a key element of Laos’ five-year strategic energy development plan (2021-2025), which seeks to strengthen the country’s economic potential. The connection with China will help Laos systematically develop its energy resources and establish a reliable energy exchange.

The system will include a new 500-kilovolt substation in Namor district, Oudomxay Province, linking to Xishuangbanna in Yunnan, China, via a 183.5 km cross-border transmission line. Additionally, two 230-kilovolt lines will connect to the main line in northern Laos.

Divided into two phases, the first phase will be developed by Electricité du Laos Transmission (EDL-T), while the second phase will be handled by CSG.

Once fully operational, Laos is expected to become a clean energy hub within the Lancang-Mekong region, linking and distributing electricity across neighboring countries.

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