Mitsubishi invest in Laos Wind Farm Project

Mitsubishi Corp (TYO:8058) has purchased a 24% stake in a 600-MW onshore wind farm project in Laos that will be supplying power to Vietnam, Kyodo News reports.

The Japanese trading house made the acquisition through a Hong Kong-based subsidiary, keeping the value of the transaction under wraps. Its partners in the project will be BCPG PCL and Earth Power Investment Ltd, both owned by companies in Thailand.

Hong Kong-based Impact Energy Asia Development Ltd (IEAD) is the developer of the wind scheme. According to the report, it will commence development activities from next year.

Planned to be built in the provinces of Sekong and Attapeu in southern Laos, the wind farm will be the first in Laos and the largest of its kind in South East Asia. It is to sell electricity to Vietnam’s state-owned Vietnam Electricity over 25 years by means of a dedicated power transmission line.

The huge power complex is expected to be switched on in 2025.

Mitsubishi in June unveiled the investment in the project through its wholly-owned Hong Kong subsidiary Diamond Generating Asia Ltd. It said at the time that the wind farm development aligned with a 2016 memorandum of understanding on power interchange between the Vietnamese and Lao governments. Under the pact, Vietnam is expected to import 5 GW of electricity from Laos by 2030.