Mr Chanthaboun Soukaloun (left) displays the Memorandum of Understanding and shakes hands with Ms Janice Bong at the signing ceremony in Vientiane.

Laos to sell power to Singapore

Laos will soon begin selling electricity to Singapore under the Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project (LTMS-PIP).
A total of 100 MW will be supplied by Laos to Singapore.
The power purchase agreement was signed in Vientiane on Friday by the Managing Director of the Electricite Du Laos (EDL), Mr Chanthaboun Soukaloun, and the Executive Director of Keppel Infrastructure Holdings, Ms Janice Bong.
The ceremony at which the agreement was signed was attended by the Minister of Energy and Mines, Dr Daovong Phonekeo, the Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr Phouthanouphet Chansombath, Singapore’s Ambassador to Laos, Ms Leow Siu Lin, government officials and representatives of the two parties.
In September 2014, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore had explored the idea of trading power beyond neighbouring countries through the Asean Economic Community (AEC) and Asean Power Grid (APG), Mr Chanthaboun said.
“At first, this was only an idea, a vision, a dream and a goal to strengthen the power integration network within the region,” he said.
It was a vision that most people did not believe would be possible due to the distance between Laos and Singapore, he added.
However, in 2017, EDL embarked on a mission to sell power to Malaysia with the birth of the Laos, Thailand and Malaysia (LTM) project.
The project is a symbol of the good cooperation between EDL, Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) and Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) of Malaysia.
“It was a good milestone which was set by four ministers in 2014,” said Mr Chanthaboun. “Today, we have reached our further goal of implementing the Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore (LTMS) project to Singapore,” he said.
Mr Chanthaboun said he believed this project will be another remarkable milestone for the larger goal of realising the Asean Power Grid in the near future, he said.
“Now, after working together for many years, we challenge ourselves to be the first four countries in the Asean region to purchase and sell power beyond the borders,” he said. This will help ensure sustained energy security and reliability.
Ms Leow Siu Lin said all the parties recognise that limited land and lack of natural resources mean that Singapore must continue to find creative and innovative ways to develop, access and adopt clean, renewable energy sources.
“One of the key strategies to support our energy transition is through regional and international partnerships, which will allow Singapore and our companies to access new energy sources and markets, while supporting the decarbonisation efforts in our region,” she said.
“I hope that the signing of the agreement today will pave the way for more of such regional and international cooperation efforts in the future.”

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update June 20, 2022)