MALAYSIAN CIVIL ENGINEERING group Gamuda Bhd has proposed the development of a 400MW hydroelectric power plant in Laos to produce electricity for sale to Thailand.
Gamuda has signed an agreement with the Government of Laos to develop the hydro project on a build-operate-transfer basis. The cost of the project, referred to as Nam Theun 1 (NT1), on the Nam Theun river in central Laos, is estimated at US$395M. The Laos Government would own 20% in the concession company, while Gamuda and its joint venture partners would own the rest.
Three of the Nam Theun river hydro dams, the Nam Theun 1, Nam Theun 1-2 (now known as the Theun Hinboun) and Nam Theun 2, were identified for development in the 1970s by the Mekong Secretariat.
In 1983 the then Interim Mekong Committee (IMC) commissioned the pre-feasibility study of these three dams on the Nam Theun river, and feasibility studies were completed in the mid 1990s.