The NNP1 Hydropower project officially moved into the construction phase in October, 2014. Construction of the power plant is set to take around four years, with commercial operation anticipated in January, 2019. NNP1 Environmental & Social Management Office has working closely with local authorities in the project area to ensure that the project will be environmentally sustainable and that it contributes to improved livelihoods of local communities and Lao PDR as a whole.
NNP1 raised a debt package of US$640 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and other Thai & Japanese banks. This backing by financial institutions is a testament to the lenders’ utmost trust that NNP1 Power Company will implement this complex, cross-border project successfully. ADB noted that this project will allow the Lao and Thai governments to continue to show their support for hydropower projects into the longer-term.
The financing arrangement has been praised as the first in Laos to solve complex issues around sharing of infrastructure such as substations and transmission lines. It is also the first significant investment by a Japanese sponsor in Lao hydropower; the first time JBIC has participated in Lao project financing; and the ADB’s first Thai baht-denominated loan for a non-Thai project.
NNP1 is co-owned by KPIC Netherlands (with 45% of the company shares), a subsidiary of Japan’s Kansai Electric Power, EGAT International (30%) of Thailand, and the Lao Holding State Enterprise (25%). The project’s objective is to provide electricity to the Lao national grid and to neighbouring countries to earn foreign exchange needed for national development.
Lao government, together with Ambassadors of Japan and Thailand, lenders and contractors cheered the Sake on th occasion of Financial Close and safe project construction at the dinner on 17th November 2014 at Done Chan Palace Hotel.