Phou Ngoy hydropower plant to be developed in Laos

Korea Western Power along with Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction have signed a memorandum of understanding for a partnership in the development of the 728MW Phou Ngoy hydropower plant on the Mekong River in Laos. Charoen Energy and Water Asia were also involved in the earlier agreement with the Lao People’s Democratic Republic to develop Phou Ngoy and brought in Korea Western Power as a partner. Korea Western Power is a subsidiary of Korea Electric Power. Under the Memorandum of Understanding signed on November 30, Korea Western Power and Doosan Heavy will jointly develop the Phou Ngoy hydropower plant, as well as cooperate in the local manufacturing of key equipment for hydropower plants and the development of sales routes for exporting the products.

Phou Ngoy hydropower plant will be built in Pakse, in the Southern Laos province of Champasak. The project has been estimated to cost  US$2.4 billion. It is going to be constructed under a build-operate-transfer model. Under the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract, Doosan will supply the main equipment and complete the construction work. Under the contract, in January 2021, Korea Western Power and Doosan will jointly conduct a site survey, after which basic engineering will be carried out for the project. Construction of the hydropower plant in Laos will start in 2022 and will be completed by 2029.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Song Jae-sup, head of the planning and management division at Korea Western Power, and Park In-won, CEO of Plant EPC Business Group at Doosan. “With our recent hydropower, wind power, and hydrogen projects, Doosan Heavy’s drive to expand our green energy business is producing visible results,” Park In-won said. “To capitalize on the hydropower plant business, which is seen as a high potential market both in Korea and overseas, we plan to boost our efforts to promote the local manufacturing and engineering of key equipment and will lead the efforts to promote the green energy industry in Korea.”