The Belgian company Tractebel and its Thai partner MCL have entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire an 80 per cent stake in the 150 MW Houay Ho hydropower project in Laos from Daewoo Engineering and Construction and Loxley.
The total acquisition price for 80 per cent of the equity and 100 per cent of the debt will be around $140 million. The remaining 20 per cent of the project is held by Electricite de Laos.
All the output from the plant is sold to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand under a 30 year power purchase agreement. The project was constructed under a Build-Operate-Transfer agreement with the government of Laos. The new deal is subject to approval by the government. Laos uses the export of power as a major source of foreign revenue.
Houay Ho has been operating for two years. Tractebel, which already has gas-fired capacity in Thailand, aims to broaden its generating portfolio in the country.