Southeast Asia’s largest onshore wind farm just broke ground

Monsoon Wind, Southeast Asia’s largest onshore wind farm, is Laos’ first wind project, and it’s also the region’s first cross-border wind power plant.

The 600-megawatt (MW) Monsoon Wind, which is owned by Thailand-based Impact Energy Asia Development, has just kicked off construction. The site is in southeastern Laos, in the Sekong and Attapeu provinces, at an elevation of 1,200-1,600 meters (3,937-5,249 feet) above sea level.

The 133-wind turbine wind farm will sell its power to state-owned Vietnam Electricity for 25 years. It will deliver the generated clean energy to central Vietnam through a 500kV transmission line.

Last month, Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp said that it and other shareholders raised $692 million in financing for Monsoon Wind. According to Monsoon’s website, the total project cost is $950 million.

Southeast Asia’s largest onshore wind farm is scheduled to come online in 2025. Check out the project’s expected impact on the region in the video below:

Hydroelectricity currently makes up 70% of total power generation in Laos, and it has at least 10 onshore wind projects – 3.6 gigawatts of projects – in planning stages.

Landlocked Laos, which has an export-oriented energy policy, is keen to establish its reputation as the “battery of Southeast Asia.” It’s one of Asia’s largest exporters of hydroelectricity. Nikkei Asia notes:

Around 80% of the power generated in Laos is sold to neighboring Thailand and Vietnam, accounting for 30% of the country’s exports by value. Laos started power exports to Singapore in 2022 and began building transmission infrastructure in January for selling electricity to Cambodia.

Read more: Global wind energy will exceed 1 TW by the end of 2023

Photo: Monsoon Wind

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