Nam Theun 2 hydropower concession
The Government of Lao PDR granted a build-operate-transfer concession for the 1,070 MW Nam Theun 2 plant to the Nam Theun Power Company, in which it held 25 percent through Lao Holding State Enterprise; the plant was completed in 2010 in 58.5 months, 4.5 months over plan, at US$1,308 million against a US$1,250 million base estimate (US$1,450 million with contingencies), and paid the government US$180 million in net revenues from 2010 to 2017.
180 million US$, net revenues from nt2 to the government of lao pdr, 2010 to 2017, 2017. 1,070 MW, installed capacity delivered (995 mw for export to thailand, 75 mw for the lao grid), 2010. World Bank Independent Evaluation Group, Implementation Completion Report Review, Lao PDR Nam Theun 2 Social and Environment Project (2019), retrieved 2026-10-02.
The move, and what it needed
The government granted a concession running to 2034 to a special-purpose company, took a minority stake through a new state holding company financed by multilateral loans, and relied on a long-term export power purchase agreement with a Thai buyer that made the debt bankable, with royalties, taxes and dividends earmarked to poverty programmes under a revenue management agreement.
Preconditions
- A creditworthy foreign buyer for most of the power under a long-term contract
- Multilateral guarantees covering political and regulatory risk that commercial lenders would not take
- A government willing to accept an external revenue management and audit regime
Limits: The World Bank financed and guaranteed the project (an IDA grant and a US$50 million partial risk guarantee), so the review is the lender's evaluation unit grading a flagship; it rates the outcome Satisfactory. The figures are in a PDF (cost and financing in the project data section, completion time and capacity and the revenue figures in the efficacy section). The US$180 million is net of nothing the review can confirm: it notes that the US$30 million a year target should be reduced for the government's repayments of the ADB and EIB loans that bought its 25 percent stake, information the Bank team could not provide, so the true net figure is uncertain. Revenue was about US$25 million a year, below the appraisal's US$30 million for the early years, and the much larger US$110 million a year expected after 2020 is a projection, not a result. Equity came from EDF, Italian-Thai Development and EGCO, debt from 14 commercial banks and multilaterals; the delivery is a foreign-led consortium that the state contracted and part-owns, and most of the output is exported to Thailand rather than serving Lao consumers. The resettlement and environmental programme, which the project was also judged on, is not covered by these numbers. The start year, 2005, is our inference from completion in 2010 after 58.5 months. The review also records that by 2014 a significant portion of NT2 revenues were being deposited directly into the Treasury rather than through the agreed special account, which weakened the earmarking of revenue to poverty programmes.