Energy authorities have removed Nam Ngum 3 hydropower plant from a list of four potential hydropower projects that are set to sell electricity to Thailand, says a source at the Energy Ministry.
The decision was reached during a meeting of the National Energy Policy Council (NEPC), citing problems with project finance as the main reason, said the official, who requested anonymity.
The meeting, held in December last year, was chaired by Energy Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga.
The NEPC acknowledged the project's financial situation in March 2023 before it resolved to scrap a plan to buy renewable power from Nam Ngum 3.
The Chinese-funded dam is under construction, a 480-megawatt run-of-the-river hydroelectric power project in the northeastern province of Xiangkhouang, Laos.
The facility is being developed and operated by Nam Ngum 3 Power Co, a joint venture between Electricite du Laos with a 20% investment, Charoen Sekong Energy Co (55%) and Egat International Co (25%).
Nam Ngum 3, which started construction in November 2015, was scheduled to start operations in 2022, but was delayed due to the impact of the pandemic.
According to the source, the NEPC already approved a power tariff for the project in November 2021 and assigned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) to sign a power purchase agreement with Nam Ngum 3 Power Co in April 2022, but the signing was cancelled because of lockdown measures that year.
Authorities previously planned to buy 468MW of electricity from Nam Ngum 3 annually, equivalent to 2.083 billion kilowatt-hours.
The Thai government signed a memorandum of understanding with Laos to import 10,500MW.
The electricity was mainly to come from hydropower plants, both in operation and under construction, with Nam Ngum 3 one of the plants, the source said.
Other than Nam Ngum 3, Sanakham, Phou Ngoy and Xekong 5 are on the list of potential hydropower projects, with a total of 2,200MW expected to be sold to Thailand.
As of May last year, Egat imported 5,935MW from nine power plants in Laos, including a coal-fired facility.