Kraisi Karnasuta, president of Electricity Generating Plc (Egco), one of the developers, said power producers from other countries, in addition to those from Norway and Japan, had also voiced interest in replacing EDF but did not name names.

Laos is expected to announce the replacement this week. Nam Theun 2 Power Co,
developer of the project, will then notify Egat, as the electricity buyer, of the new shareholding structure by the end of this month for the power purchase contract signing.

The contract is critical to the developers who need it as collateral to secure loan facilities from the World Bank and other financiers.

Construction of Nam Theun 2 will take at least six years to complete and electricity will be
produced and supplied to Egat by then.

However, it is expected to be delayed by six to 12 months, depending on the readiness of the newcomers to carry out the project, said Mr Kraisi.

Power producers from Norway are most likely to become the new partners due to
their long experience in the construction of hydroelectric dams, which would help expedite construction.

Before pulling out, EDF held a 35% stake in the project. Egco and state-owned Electricite{AAC} du Laos each hold 25% and contractor Italian-Thai Development Plc holds the remaining 15%.

Construction was scheduled to begin this year on the four-turbine, 920-megawatt plant, located 250 kilometres east of the Laotian capital of Vientiane.

It is expected to supply power to Thailand at about 5,636 million units a year for the main need in the Northeast.

Price for the electricity will average 1.64 baht per unit, based on an exchange rate of 42.5 baht to the dollar throughout the 25-year contract. Payment will be split into two parts, half of which will be paid in US dollars, the other in baht.

The project is expected to generate annual revenue of nine billion baht.

Of the total investment cost, US$900 million was to be acquired from commercial bank loans and the remainder from shareholder equity.

Egat governor Sithiporn Rattanopas said earlier said that Egat might scrap its plan to buy power from the project if new partners were not found within a year. Egat would seek power elsewhere to avoid possible supply disruptions starting in 2009 when Nam Theun 2 is scheduled to start supplying power.