A development company supported by investment from Thailand and Japan has started construction in Laos on what will be the largest onshore wind farm in South East Asia.
Project company Impact Energy Asia Development (IEAD) reached financial close on the Monsoon Wind Power development in April 2023, meaning construction could begin the following month. The project site spreads across the Sekong and Attapeu provinces of southern Laos.
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The project has a total cost of $950m and the sponsors say they have raised a $692m financing package to fund construction.
The wind farm will comprise 133 wind turbines and have a total capacity of 600MW megawatts. Laos has a small population and limited energy demand, but it is a net exporter of power. The power generated by the new wind farm will be sold to Vietnam Electric, the state-owned utility in its neighbouring country.
Laos already exports around 80% of its power generation to Thailand and Vietnam, began exporting power to Singapore in 2022 and is building a transmission line to Cambodia. Most of Laos’ power generation comes from hydroelectricity, but it is developing a fleet of new onshore wind farms.
IEAD is owned by BCPG (45%) and Impact Electrons Siam (31%) of Thailand, and Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Corporation (24%). Chinese companies Envision Energy and PowerChina are undertaking the construction, operation and maintenance of the project.
