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.
New Khounkham Hospital Equipped by Theun-Hinboun
Khounkham, June 6, 2017
A 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”.
TH Major Overhaul Completed
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.
THPC Hands Waste Facility to Public Ownership
Khounkham District, September 23, 2016
The Theun-Hinboun Power Company (THPC) has handed over a landfill site for disposal of public waste to authorities in Khounkham District, Khammouane Province, as part of its commitment to community development and environmental protection.
Mr Thavone Keokhamphanh, Deputy District Governor of Khounkham, officially accepted the facility for public ownership, saying the landfill was a valuable community asset.
The facility was built on public land leased to THPC in 2009 with two purposes: to receive waste from construction of the Theun-Hinboun Expansion Project, and to provide a solution to the growing amount of rubbish generated by Khounkham town and surrounding villages, which increased significantly in size following the development of the Theun-Hinboun power plants.
The expansion project was completed in late 2012 and since then THPC has managed the landfill site for public use, instituting recycling projects and training local staff how to run the facility. Any hazardous waste from THPC’s operations, such as engine oil or batteries, has been stored separately from the landfill pits, or passed to specialist contractors for recycling or safe disposal.
Ms Vongchanh Indavong, THPC’s Senior Environment and Commercial Manager, said the facility had been designed to international standards at a cost of around US$150,000. It is lined with geotextiles to minimise seepage of pollutants into the environment and equipped with a series of ponds that store and treat runoff water from the pit area. Ms Vongchanh said the current pit at the landfill could take local rubbish for several more years, depending on how much waste can be recycled. Further pits could also be installed at the site.
Khounkham’s District Office for Natural Resources and the Environment has made an agreement with a local recycling company, which will operate the landfill under contract and use revenue from recycling local rubbish to cover the costs of managing the facility. THPC has meanwhile agreed to continue monitoring wastewater quality at the site for a further year after the handover and will provide district staff with additional training on waste management.
The company has also constructed landfill facilities in three resettlement villages in the Theun-Hinboun project area and is working with communities to improve waste management and increase recycling.
Speaking after the transfer of ownership documents at the Theun-Hinboun site in the district, Mr Thavone said that Khounkham was fortunate THPC had provided so much investment in infrastructure and in villages across the district. Earlier this year the company handed over schools and health centres built for relocated villages along the Hinboun River, and has also invested in roads, irrigation schemes and water and electricity supplies.
THPC constructed the landfill pit and water treatment ponds in 2009, and has operated the site for the use of the whole district, handing it over to public ownership in September 2016.
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