Villagers Take Ownership of New Homes and Services
Khounkham District, July 26, 2017
Residents of the newly-built village of Phaxang in Khounkham District, Khammouane, have officially taken ownership of their houses and public facilities.
Phaxang, built by the Theun-Hinboun Power Company (THPC) as compensation for longer annual flood periods, groups five small communities that were formerly in Hinboun District. At a ceremony organised by district authorities with THPC, villagers received technical documentation for the infrastructure built at the village.
Phaxang is named after an elephant-shaped limestone cliff that dominates the skyline outside the village, famed for a holy cave found near its summit. It is now home to over 350 households, which have good quality houses equipped with toilets, running water and electricity. The village features all-weather access roads, a new temple, village hall and two irrigation schemes. THPC also built two schools and a health centre, which were transferred to the authorities last year. The total cost of the infrastructure was almost US$3.9 million.
People from Phahang Tai, Phahang Neua, Thana Tai, Thana Neua and Phachoua moved to the new site in 2014 and 2015. The Theun-Hinboun hydropower expansion project, inaugurated in 2013, intensifies the natural flood cycles on the Hinboun River, so THPC has built new houses and amenities on higher ground for villages along the river.
As noted by Mr Oday Soudaphone, Governor of Khammouane Province, the area became part of the new Khounkham District when it was created in 2010 in recognition of the economic development and growing population along the upper Hinboun following the success of the Theun-Hinboun projects. At the Phaxang handover ceremony, Mr Khamsy thanked THPC for its thorough approach to compensating villages along the river and for working with local communities and authorities to build a sustainable future for people in the province.
THPC Deputy General Manager, Mr Soulideth Baomanikhoth, remarked that the people of Phaxang were adapting well to the new site, which already looked like a prosperous and well-managed village, and said that THPC would continue to work with local authorities to support communities in the project area.
Tree Planting Strengthens Nature Connection in Keosenkham
Xaychamphone District, June 9, 2017
Villagers in Keosenkham village joined with the Theun-Hinboun Power Company (THPC) to mark National Tree Planting Day on June 1, adding 2,300 saplings to the village and surroundings as part of progress towards a greener environment.
THPC provided eight saplings to every household in the village, plus trees for public areas such as the school, along with instructions on how to plant and look after trees plus materials to help protect the saplings.
Each year the company selects one village for tree planting efforts in the area around its power plant, organizing an event with local authorities to mark National Plantation Day and World Environment Day. The theme for this year’s Environment Day is “Connecting People to nature” and the people of Keosenkham appreciated the effort to plant more trees around their village.
Robert Allen, General Manager of THPC, said that as Keosenkham was located at a fairly high altitude, the trees could provide important material benefits to the villagers. “This is not a major rice growing area,” said Mr Allen, “but fruit and other trees can contribute to the economy of the people in the long-term, as well as enhancing the environment around the village”.
Keosenkham was founded in 2010 when five villages living along the Gnouang River moved to the newly founded Xaychamphone as part of the Theun-Hinboun Expansion Project. THPC provided those who chose to resettle at the new site with houses, farm land and public facilities alongside the Nam Gnouang Reservoir, which the villagers fish each day.
THPC staff joined Keosenkham residents, schoolchildren and district staff to mark National Plantation Day by planting trees around the village in Xaychamphone. Many of the saplings came from THPC’s nursery, established to help reforest the area around the Nam Gnouang Reservoir.
Overhaul Boosts Theun-Hinboun Output
Vientiane, March 24, 2017
The Theun-Hinboun Power Company (THPC) now has an overall generating capacity of 520 megawatts (MW) following the recent completion of a major overhaul. Efficiency tests conducted on a second new turbine installed at the company’s Theun-Hinboun Powerhouse in Khammouane province confirmed that the overhaul has added at least 20 MW of production capacity, while the plant uses the same volume of water as before the upgrade.
Replacement of the turbine and maintenance of the generator for the TH1 Unit was undertaken between December 2016 and February this year by staff from THPC’s Operations and Maintenance Division (OMD), alongside engineers from Rainpower and GE in Norway.
The work was completed one week ahead of schedule, allowing the upgraded unit to go into production in late February, alongside the TH2 unit, which received a similar upgrade last year. The two units, now rated at 120 MW each at full load, first began operating in March 1998. With the 220-MW TH3 unit and the two 30-MW units at the project’s upstream Nam Gnouang Powerhouse, installed as part of the Theun-Hinboun Expansion Project in 2012, THPC now has a maximum operating capacity of 520 MW.
THPC’s Deputy General Manager, Soulideth Baomanikhoth, congratulated the company’s OMD team and the contractors for finishing the work ahead of tight deadlines and with a perfect safety record. “This investment increases both the long-term efficiency and safety of our plant,” said Mr Soulideth. “We can now increase our contribution to the Lao economy by exporting more power while using no more water”.
THPC has so far contributed over US$465 million to the government since starting operations. With 60% of its shares owned by EDL-Gen, THPC is the only independent power producer in the country under Lao majority control, and 99% of the company’s workforce are Lao nationals.
New Khounkham Hospital Equipped by Theun-Hinboun
Khounkham, June 6, 2017A new hospital in Khounkham District, Khammouane Province, is offering improved care for patients with a range of illnesses and conditions following a second donation of equipment by the Theun-Hinboun Power Company (THPC).
On May 31 THPC staff delivered an ambulance and various items of medical emergency equipment to the hospital along with sets of basic supplies and medicines. This followed an earlier handover, in March this year, of obstetric equipment for childbirth and the care of expecting mothers and new-born babies.
The donated equipment, valued at over US$52,000, was previously installed in a clinic at the nearby Theun-Hinboun site. The THPC clinic has for many years acted as the de facto hospital for people living in the area, but with the opening of the new district hospital, THPC is transferring vital equipment to the new facility so that it can serve the local community. Many of the district health staff have trained with THPC over the past few years in preparation for the opening of the hospital.
Soulideth Baomanikhoth, the Deputy General Manager of THPC, said that Khounkham District had grown enormously since the beginning of the Theun-Hinboun project and it was encouraging to see the district taking on responsibility for providing public services. “This is a sign of the positive development of the area, and THPC is proud to have played a role in the economic development of Khounkham, and in building the capacity of the local health service”.