Laos, Vietnam plan power line for hydro-electricity - ADB

VIETNAM: Laos and Vietnam plan to build a cross-border power transmission line so Laos can sell hydro-electricity to its energy hungry neighbour, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Friday.

Japan and the ADB will help develop a loan programme for the 240 million dollar project that includes an initial one million dollar grant from the Japan Special Fund, the Manila-based development agency added.

Landlocked Laos which hopes to become the "battery" of Southeast Asia's Mekong region by damming its rivers has about 18,000 megawatts (MW) in hydropower potential but has only tapped 663 MW so far, the ADB said.

Vietnam, which has enjoyed a decade of economic growth of 7.5 percent or more, is expected to see power demand rise by 16 percent a year until 2010, it said.

The 165-kilometre (102-mile) power line would link the Ban Sok substation in southeastern Laos with Pleiku in Vietnam's Central Highlands.

The loans to Laos and Vietnam will be designed "to suit the commercial operation schedule of the 11 hydropower developers that will provide the 1,000 MW of electricity targeted for export," the bank said.

The two countries have signed a sale agreement for up to 5,000 MW by 2020.

The ADB says Laos' hydropower export earnings to Vietnam, as well as Thailand, will "help fund projects that will bring electricity to rural areas, as well as social development and poverty reduction efforts."

Environmentalist groups oppose plans to build more dams in Laos, including on the Mekong River mainstream, arguing that they hurt the poor by displacing villagers and destroying vital fish stocks.

HANOI, Friday, AFP