ICBC provides $234 million loan for 135MW Nam Bi Hydropower Construction Project

On November 18, 2015, Nam Bi Power Company — a joint venture owned by EDL-Generation Public Company (80% ownership stake) and Chanthavone Bridge and Road Construction and Maintenance Company Limited (20% ownership stake) — and Power China Chengdu Engineering Corporation Limited signed an EPC contract worth $275,948,995 for the 135MW Nam Bi Hydropower Construction Project. ICBC provided a $234 million commercial loan — with a 15 year maturity — to Nam Bi Power Company to finance approximately 85% of the cost of the EPC contract. The purpose of the Nam Bi Hydropower Construction Project is to construct a hydroelectric power plant with in Blongngai village within Darkjueng District and Sekong Province. Upon completion, the Nam Bi hydropower plant is expected have a total installed capacity of 135MW which will be able to produce 680 GWh per year to Électricité du Laos (EDL) to distribute domestically. The project is to be implemented on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis. Nam Bi Power Company holds a concession on the Nam Bi hydropower plant and after the end of the term of the concession agreement, the plant will be transferred back to the assets of the Lao government. On October 28, 2016, Nam Bi Power Company Limited signed a Project Development Agreement (PDA) For Nam Bi 1-2-3 Hydroelectric Power Project in Sekong Province with Government of Lao PDR. However, AidData has not identified any evidence of project implementation.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the Nam Bi 1-2-3 Hydroelectric Power Plant Construction Project. The Chinese project title is 老挝南碧水电站项目. 2. Électricité du Laos (EDL) is the state corporation of Laos that owns and operates the country's electricity generation, electricity transmission and electricity distribution assets. The company also manages the import and export of electricity from the national electricity grid of the country. EDL-Generation Company Limited (EDL-Gen) was incorporated in 2010 and operates as a subsidiary of Electricite Du Laos.”

Number of official sources

8

Number of total sources

11