Monsoon Wind Power Project in Laos info by Hobo Maps - Go to Wind Power Projects Page - - - HOME
The Monsoon Wind Power Project is a 600 MW project located in Dak Cheung district of Sekong Province and in Sanxay district of Attapeu Province of southern Lao PDR, about 50 km east of Sekong (Xekong) town.
The Project has 133 turbine generator sites situated at elevations between 1,200 and 1,600 meters above sea level and spread out over a 700 square km area (70,000 hectares).
The US$ 950 million Project is the first and the largest wind power project to be developed in Lao PDR and the first cross-border wind energy project in the ASEAN region.
The Project Main Camp location and upper area of the entire project is seen in images below:
Total Project area seen in image below as inside red line with green as wind tower locations, villages as blue rectangles and yellow line to the border as 500 kV line.
Early development of the Project was carried out by Impact Energy Asia Development (IEAD), a joint venture of Mitsubishi (55%) and BCPG (45%).
The project is owned and managed by Monsoon Wind Power Company Limited, a Lao company with shareholders Diamond Generating Asia (DGA a Mitsubishi subsidiary), Philippine-based ACEN, Impact Electron Siam (IES), STP&I, BCPG, Lao-based SMP Consultation and maybe others.
Impact Electron Siam's founder and executive chairman Peck Khamkanist was a driving force for the project.
The Project commenced construction in April 2023 and was completed on 22 August 2025 (COD).
The Project will operate under a 28 year concession agreement with the Government of Lao PDR beginning on 22 August 2025.
The 600 MW project is expected to produce about 1,700 GWh of output annually.
The Project Main Cmp is located at coordinates 15°23'09.2"N 107°14'00.6"E (15.385889, 107.233500) in image below:
The Project 500 kV substation is located at 15°23'18.2"N 107°14'18.5"E (15.388389, 107.238472) as seen below:
The Monsoon Wind Power Project has 133 wind turbines. Each EN-171 turbine has generating capacity of 4.51 MW, a rotor diameter of 171 meters, a hub height of 110 meters, a swept area of 22,965 square meters and a blade length of 83.9 meters.
The Project also includes four 33/115 kV transmission substations and a 115/500 kV substation.
Project civil works include 180 km of new roads, development of underground and above-ground collector transmission cables and other ancillary facilities.
Dak Cheung town area view below:
Monsoon Project images below from video by Lobsang Yolmoo:
In July 2017, the project was recommended by the Government of Laos to the ministry of industry and trades of Vietnam (MOIT) to be developed as a cross-border renewable project. A grid impact study was completed and approved by Vietnam Electricity and MOIT in September 2019 and the project was approved to be connected to Vietnam’s grid network at the Thanh Mi substation.
The electricity generated by the wind farm will be supplied to Vietnam under a 25-year power purchase agreement signed between IEAD and Vietnam Electricity in 2021, which was amended in January 2022.
In March 2023, sponsors of the Project signed a $692.55 million USD financing package to initially fund the project which relied heavily on assistance from international Development Financial Institutions (DFI).
Asian Development Bank (ADB) acted as lead arranger for the early financing, which comprised a $100 million A loan from ADB’s ordinary capital resources alongside $382.55 million in parallel loans, a $150 million syndicated B loan and $60 million in concessional financing.
The concessional financing administered by ADB comprised $20 million from JICA’s Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund (LEAP), $30 million from the Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector in Asia (CFPS, CFPS II) and a $10 million grant from ADB’s Asian Development Fund-Private Sector Window.
These financing arrangements may have set a precedent for future wind power project financing deals in Laos.
Other Monsoon wind tower images below:
The Monsoon Project will export all of its power output to Vietnam’s electricity grid through a 65 km-long 500 kV transmission line with 22 km of that in Laos and 43 km in Vietnam. The transmission line extends from the 115/500 kV substation of the Project at Ban Dak Bong in the Dak Cheung district to the 500 kV Thanh My substation in Vietnam. The line has a maximum transmission capacity of roughly 2,500 MW and is invested by EVN and managed by Electricity of Vietnam Power Management Board 2 (EVNPMB2).
Each kilowatt-hour imported will cost Vietnam US$ 0.0695.
The Project output will be synchronized with the Vietnam power grid system.
An advantage for wind power development is that the Project did not need to resettle any people.
Power Plant Operation and Maintenance Branch (POM) of Power Construction Consulting Joint Stock Company 2 (PECC2) has been selected to provide operation & maintenance (O&M) services for the 500 kV and 110 kV substations and related equipment for the project.
Some of the Monsoon Wind Power construction images below are from the Project Website:
An Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) was prepared in 2020 in accordance with Lao PDR requirements. The ESIA was updated to meet lender requirements and no physical displacement was anticipated. See Monsoon Wind Power ESIA PDF document.
The Project is also required to prepare an Environmental and Social Monitoring Report (ESMR) annually to detail the environmental and social performance of all Project operations including compliance with senior lender safeguards and social requirements.
The Project expects avoidance of 1.3 million tons of CO₂ output annually which contributes directly to climate commitments under the Paris Agreement and provides a model for future ASEAN power initiatives.
Monsoon transmission line images below:
Monsoon transmission line booster substation image below:
Main crew below:
Monsoon Wind Power export transmission line route seen in red on map below along with blue hydropower export lines.
Project History
November 2011 Government of Lao gave Impact Energy Asia (IEA) a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for exclusive rights to develop a large-scale wind power project in southern Lao PDR.
In 2015 Impact Energy Asia Development (IEAD) was granted exclusive rights to develop the Monsoon Wind Power Project by the Government of Laos (GoL) through a development agreement.
In October 2016 a MoU on power interchange was signed between the Vietnamese and Lao governments.
In July 2017, the Project was recommended by the Government of Lao to the Ministry of Industry and Trades of Vietnam (MOIT) to be developed as a cross-border renewable project.
In September 2019 a grid impact study was completed and approved by Vietnam Electricity and MOIT.
In July 2021 a 25-year power purchase agreement was signed between IEAD and Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) which was later amended in January 2022.
In January 2022, Keppel Infrastructure, Impact Electrons Siam (IES) and Envision Group signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore the possibility of expanding the Project’s capacity by 1,000 MW. Keppel Infrastructure is a developer of sustainable infrastructure while Envision is a global green technology company.
In April 2022 Envision Group signed a letter of intent with IEAD for the supply of 133 wind turbines for the Project.
In July 2022 the plan for importing power produced from the Project to Vietnam’s grid was approved by the Prime Minister of Vietnam.
In July 2022 the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the project was approved by the Lao Ministry of Natural resources and Environment (MONRE). ERM-Siam Company was chosen to conduct the environmental and social gap analysis of the local EIA.
In November 2022 Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina) signed an agreement to be the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the Project.
In December 2022 a Concession Agreement was signed by the developers with the Government of Laos for 28 years.
In April 2023 a group of financing institutions including the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking provided a US$ 692 million financing package under an agreement signed with the developers. ADB acted as the lead arranger for all the banks providing the financing package.
In April 2023 the Project commenced construction.
The first set of wind turbines supplied by Shanghai-headquartered Envision Energy arrived at the site in July 2023 and all 133 structures were installed by April 2025
August 22, 2025 is the project's Commercial Operations Date (COD).
August 22, 2025 is the beginning of the 28 year concesssion period.
Contractors Involved:
Power Construction Corporation of China (POWERCHINA) signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract for the wind farm in November 2022.
ERM-Siam Company, a consulting services provider, was chosen to conduct the environmental and social gap analysis of the local EIA.
AFRY, an engineering, design and advisory services provider, was engaged by ADB to provide the lender’s technical advisory services in March 2023.