The Xekong 4A and 4B project, with an installed capacity of 355 MW, is to be built on the Xekong river, a tributary of the Mekong, in Xekong province, by XK4, a consortium of investors led by Thailand’s Ratch Energy with B.Grimm Power PLC. With feasibility studies approved in 2022 and the basic design finalized in late December the same year, the project has been moving steadily towards realisation, according to the developers. The project’s construction phase is scheduled to begin in 2025, with two proposed dams. The developers have committed to ensuring environmental accountability and promoting community engagement.
The Xekong river’s potential for hydroelectric power was first explored in a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2015 between the Government of Laos and the Lao World Engineering and Construction Company Ltd. The project gained momentum with Ratch Group Public Company Limited and B. Grimm Power Public Company Ltd joining as co-developers. In early December last year, the Ratch Group and B.Grimm Power established XK4, a new associate company incorporated under Lao law, to develop and operate the Xekong 4A and 4B, with shareholdings of 60 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively. The remaining 20 per cent stake is held by Lao World Engineering and Construction. Team Group carried out the feasibility study and is undertaking the environmental and social impact assessment.
The 165 MW Xekong 4A hydropower dam is planned to have an RCC gravity dam with a height of 75 m. Xekong 4B, with an installed capacity of 175 MW, is planned to have a 117 m-high RCC dam. The average annual production will be 1643 GWh.
