The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) expects to buy electricity from Laos' Nam Ngum 3 hydropower plant at five US cents per unit (kilowatt/hour). Egat governor Kraisi Kanasuta said the utility had settled the price in negotiations with the project's operators and would seek endorsement from the Egat board at the end of this week. The operators of the 460-megawatt Nam Ngum 3 are Thailand-based MDX Plc, which holds 27%, Japan's Marubeni Corp (25%) and the Laotian government (23%). The remaining 25% is being acquired by Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Plc for 2.2 billion baht. The project will begin construction in 2008 and start operations in 2013. After 2013, Thailand is scheduled buy a total of 2,959 MW of electricity from seven hydropower projects in Laos, consisting of Nam Ngum 1, 2 and 3; Houay Ho, Theun Hinboun, Nam Theun 1 and Nam Theun 2.

Source : Bangkok Post 13 Nov. 2006