New alliance to undertake 1-GW wind project in Laos, other ASEAN projects

A gigawatt-scale extension of a wind farm in Lao PDR is one of the developments planned by a new tripartite alliance aiming to bring renewable energy solutions to end-users in the ASEAN region.

Keppel Infrastructure Holdings Pte Ltd, a unit of Singapore’s Keppel Corp Ltd (SGX:BN4), announced on Wednesday it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Thai renewables developer Impact Electrons Siam Co Ltd (IES) and Chinese greentech company Envision Group to work together to provide low-carbon electricity, storage and intermittency management solutions in the region.

The idea of the collaboration is to catalyse regional power interconnectivity between ASEAN nations and cross-border multilateral electricity trading. This will allow renewables-rich countries to share their resources with neighbours in need.

According to the announcement, the three parties will leverage IES’ exclusive rights to develop the 1,000-MW expansion of the 600-MW Monsoon wind farm in Laos. IES is working on this project in Sekong and Attapeu provinces, with plans to have the wind power complex up and running by 2025.

The trio envisages taking on other renewable energy projects in Laos, including solar and biomass. IES has more than 1,900 MW of wind and solar assets in development and operation in Thailand, Japan, Laos and Vietnam.

Cindy Lim, CEO of Keppel Infrastructure, noted that the cooperation follows the recent signing of an exclusive framework agreement to study the feasibility of cross-border power trade from Laos to Singapore, part of an inter-government project known as the Laos PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project (LTMS-PIP).

“Developing large-scale renewable energy for cross-borders power trade in the region will be a significant step towards promoting greater energy security by diversifying energy supply sources as well as contributing to ASEAN’s plan for a sustainable energy future,” Lim said. She added that Keppel Infrastructure is looking to increase its involvement in renewables and end-to-end decarbonisation solutions and is also exploring low-carbon energy options such as hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS).

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