China Eximbank provides $335.25 million loan for 168 MW Nam Tha 1 Hydropower Project

On August 28, 2006, China Southern Power Grid and the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Laos signed a Memorandum of Understand (MoU) for the development of the 168 MW Nam Tha 1 Hydropower Project. Then, on June 16, 2010, the Government of Laos and Nam Tha 1 Lao Power Company Limited (老挝南塔河1号电力有限公司 or ໄຟຟ້ານໍ້າທາ 1 ລາວ ຈໍາກັດ 1) — a special purpose vehicle and joint venture between China Southern Power Grid International Co., Ltd [80% equity stake] and Électricité du Laos (EDL) [20% equity stake] — signed a project development agreement. On November 18, 2014, the Government of Laos and Nam Tha 1 Lao Power Company Limited signed a 32-year concession (franchise) agreement, which specified a 4-year construction period and a 28-year operation period. The agreement was signed by Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, Dr Bounthavy Sisouphanthong, and President of Nam Tha 1 Lao Power Company, Mr Han Rui. Under the terms of the concession agreement, Nam Tha 1 Lao Power Company Limited was made responsible for financing, constructing, and managing the 168 MW Nam Tha 1 Hydropower Project on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis. The $447 million project was implemented as an Independent Power Project (IPP) and financed according to a debt-to-equity ratio of 75:25. On December 5, 2014, Nam Tha 1 Lao Power Company Limited and China Eximbank signed a loan agreement for the 168 MW Nam Tha 1 Hydropower Project. The estimated value of the loan is $335.25 million (75% of $447 million). The borrowing terms of the loan are unknown. The purpose of the project was to construct a 168MW hydroelectric power plant — with three, 56MW power generation units — in Pha-oudom (ເມືອງຜາອຸດົມ) district within Bokeo province (near Xishuangbanna in Yunnan Province). The plant consists of a left bank spillway, concrete face rock-fill dam, right bank diversion power system and right bank powerhouse. The project also involved the construction of (1) a 40 km access road from Road No. R3 to the project site, (2) a 115-kV transmission line (measuring 82 km in length) from the powerhouse to the substation in Huayxai district, and (3) another 115-kV transmission line (measuring 40 km in length) from the powerhouse to another substation in Luang Namtha Proviince. The dam was expected to create a reservoir of 64 square kilometers in order to store about 17.55 billion cubic meters of water. It was also expected to flood 34 villages. China Southern Power Grid International Co., Ltd. is the contractor. Guangxi Electric Power Industry (GXED) was the contractor responsible for project design and China Southern Power Grid International Co., Ltd. was the contractor responsible for project implementation. A formal groundbreaking ceremony took place on December 28, 2013. Construction of the access road began in February 2014 and was opened to traffic in October 2014. Construction of the main dam, the diversion tunnel, and then transmission lines commenced on November 22, 2014. Then, construction of the concrete face rockfill dam began in April 2015. Construction of the diversion tunnel was completed in October 2015 and a formal diversion tunnel completion ceremony took place on November 6, 2015. Then, construction of the main dam was completed in November 2016 and completion of the transmission lines was completed in July 2017. The commencement of water impoundment took place in August 2017. Then, the first power generation unit was installed in October 2017. Construction of the power plant was completed on June 26, 2018. The reservoir also began to fill on June 26, 2018. All three power generation units were put into operation on October 26, 2018. The project achieved its commercial operation date (COD) on April 1, 2019.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the Nam Tha 1 Hydropower Plant Project, the Nantahe No. 1 Hydropower Project, or the NT1 project. The Chinese project title is 南塔河1号水电站项目 or 老挝南塔河一级(Nam Tha 1)水电站项目 or 老挝南塔河1号水电站正 or 老挝南塔河1号水电站项目. 2. In the China’s Overseas Development Finance Dataset that Boston University's Global Development Policy Center published in December 2020, it identifies the loan commitment year as 2018 (rather than 2014) and the face value of the loan as $400 million (rather than $335.25 million). AidData has coded the loan commitment year based on the exact calendar day (December 5, 2014) when Nam Tha 1 Lao Power Company Limited and China Eximbank signed the loan agreement for the 168 MW Nam Tha 1 Hydropower Project. AidData has estimated the face value of the China Eximbank loan by multiplying the total project cost ($447 million) by .75 (since the project was reportedly financed according to a debt-to-equity ratio of 75:25). 3. Some sources identify the total project cost as RMB 2.7 billion ($400 million). However, these appear to be outdated estimates prior to an increase in the overall cost of the project to $447 million. 4. China Southern Power Grid International Co., Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of China Southern Power Grid Company.

Number of official sources

21

Number of total sources

50