600 MW Laos-based wind power project to run in Feb 2025 for export to Vietnam

The 600-MW Monsoon wind power project in Laos can enter trial operation in February 2025 for power export to Vietnam, its investor told Vietnam Electricity (EVN) on Wednesday.

The investor, Monsoon Wind Power Company Limited, also noted that the 500kV transformer station and power lines in Laos are set to be completed in February 2025.

Regarding the section on Vietnamese territory, EVN, as the investor, stated that the 500kV Monsoon-Thanh My power line is scheduled for completion in October 2024, and the upgrade of the 500kV Thanh My transformer station is expected to finish in September 2024.

Monsoon Wind Power Company Limited is a consortium with stakeholders from Thailand, Hong Kong, Laos, the Netherlands, Japan, and Singapore. Notable stakeholders include Thailand’s Impact Electrons Siam Group and BCPG Public Company Limited, Japan’s Mitsubishi, and Laos’ SMP Consultation Sole Company Limited.

The $950-million project, located in the Laotian provinces of Sekong and Attapeu, features 133 wind turbines and a 22-kilometer transmission line crossing the Vietnam-Laos border. EVN is also the power purchaser of this project, with a 25-year power purchase agreement.

Mitsubishi Corporation in April 2023 said that the Japanese heavyweight and other shareholders of the Monsoon wind power project had raised $692 million in financing for the wind farm, which will serve Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia.

The first cross-border renewable energy project in Southeast Asia is set to play a central role in a plan shared by the governments of Vietnam and Laos to transmit 5,000 MW of electricity from Laos to Vietnam by 2030, Mitsubishi said.