Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction has signed an MoU with Korea Western Power to cooperate on developing a hydropower plant in Phou Ngoy, Laos. The Thailand-based developer Charoen Energy and Water Asia (CEWA) had initially signed the deal with the Laos government to develop the Phou Ngoy project and since then, has been jointly executing the project with Korea Western Power. A tri-party investment agreement was entered into with Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation (KIND) in August 2020.
Under the MoU, Korea Western Power and Doosan will jointly pursue the development of the Phou Ngoy hydropower plant and cooperate on the local manufacturing of key equipment for hydropower plant projects, as well as on the development of sales routes to promote exporting of the products.
The 728 MW Phou Ngoy hydropower plant will be built in Pakse, a city located in the Southern Laos province of Champasak. The project is valued to be about US$2.4 billion and will be executed using the BOT(Build-Operate-Transfer) approach. This is to be an EPC project, with Doosan handling the supply of main equipment and the construction work. Starting 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. The plant construction will start in 2022 and be completed by 2029.