Minister of Energy and Mines, Dr Khammany Inthilath, and delegates visited the construction site of Nam Kong 3 Hydropower Plant in Phouvong District, Attapeu Province and were warmly welcomed by the Chairman of Chaleun Sekong Energy Company Limited, Mr Chanthanom Phommany.
The Nam Kong 3 Project is currently focused on the construction of the dam and powerhouse and progress overall so far is 75 percent complete. Construction started in January 2018 and impounding of water in the reservoir began in November 2020 and power will be generated power within late 2021.
Nam Kong 3 Hydropower Project dam is 65 metres high and 486 metres in length and the reservoir capacity is approximately 471 million cubic metres of water. The Nam Kong 3 Project will not only to generate electricity from its own powerhouse, but will also help the Nam Kong 2 Hydropower Plant to increase its energy production by 30 percent.
Poyry Consulting and Engineering Company designed and acts as Owner’s Engineer on the Nam Kong Hydropower Project. CSE currently has a 27-year concession period and has invested a total of approximately USD 140 million. There are currently three electrical generators in the powerhouse with an installed capacity of 54 MW being able to generate up to 204 GWH of electricity per year. After the construction is complete and the facility is officially generating electricity, it will sell the energy to Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN).
The delegation also visited the Nam Kong 2 Hydropower Project which has an installed generating capacity of 66 MW, and which cost US$142 million to build. The project started to sell electricity to Electricity Du Laos in 2018. The Nam Kong 2 Project already has a power purchase agreement with EVN and will sell electricity to Vietnam in the near future.
Minister of Energy and Mines, Dr. Khammany, also highly praised the successful work of the CSE. He reiterated the importance of adhering to quality controls as well as following the standards for security. Both dams will play an important role in the socio-economic development of the nation.