Bangkok – EGCO chairman Sitthiporn Ratanopas told Reuters he would fly to
Shanghai on Saturday to talk about financing from the Chinese bank and its possible investment in the project through a subsidiary, China National Machinery Electric Corp.

“We’ve been saying that the key problem of this dam project is financing, so the Chinese bank, which has been funding various dam schemes in the past, is very keen to finance this project,” he said.

“I will find out what they have to offer or how they would take part in this project,” said Sitthiporn, whose company holds a 25 percent stake in the scheme.

Nam Theun 2, Indochina’s biggest dam project, hit a snag in July, just one day before a power purchase agreement deal was signed, when state-owned Electricite de France [EDF.UL] said it would withdraw from its 35 percent stake by the end of the year.

The Lao government, which has a 25 percent stake, has said it will seek a replacement if EdF does not confirm its participation by the end of September.

State-owned Electricite du Laos general manager Viraphonh Viravong told Reuters last month the company had held talks with potential partners, including two private investors from China and companies from Norway and Japan.

State-owned Norwegian power firm Statkraft confirmed last week that a Lao partnership in which it has a one-fifth stake was eyeing assets held by EdF.

Sitthiporn, also chief of state-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), insisted EGAT would buy most of the power generated by the 1,070 megawatt hydropower scheme, denying a report that it might scrap the plan.

“The thought has never crossed my mind to cancel the purchase plan,” Sitthiporn said. “I said Laos had to tell EGAT by the end of this month when the project will be complete so we can put that new schedule in our 15-year power development plan.”

Thai Energy Minister Prommin Lertsuridej said in Vientiane last month Thailand was committed to buying electricity from the Nam Theun 2 project, no matter how long it was delayed. Electricity is a major foreign exchange earner for Laos, one of the world’s poorest countries with three-quarters of its people living on less than $2 a day.