The project consists of a dam across Nam Leuk river to raise the river level to form a storage reservoir, and a power station with two turbine-generator units of 30 MW each. It also includes a diversion weir and intake on the Nam Poun, a stream that joins the Nam Leuk downstream of the dam. A switchyard and a double-circuit transmission line to the substation at Paksane are also included in the project.

The project is primarily targeted to supply power for domestic use; more specifically, the electricity generated from Nam Leuk will be transmitted to areas of Lao PDR where imported diesel and kerosene are the main commercial energy forms. Excess electricity generated by the project not required for domestic consumption will be exported to Thailand. The project is also aimed at strengthening the capacity of Electricite du Lao (EdL) to prepare, design, and implement environmentally sustainable projects.

Located close to the project is the National Biodiversity Conservation Area (NBCA) at Phou Khao Khouay (PKK), where wildlife poaching and forest encroachment continues unabated, because management and protection efforts are currently weak. The project, in addition, was designed to provide long term technical and financial support for the effective protection and management of the NBCA.

Project Cost and Financing ($ thousand)

	Foreign	Local	Total
ADB	52.0		52.0
Japan Bank for International Cooperation(JBIC)	38.5		38.5
Government		22.1	22.1

Status

Project completed in 2000 and now operational. For detailed information on project, please contact:
Mr. B.M. Karunaratne
Senior Project Engineer, IWEN, ADB
(bmkarunaratne@adb.org).