China and Thailand have announced a joint venture to build and operate two power stations on the Lancang-Mekong River. China will hold 75 percent of the stake.

According to sources with the Yunnan provincial power department, China Huaneng Group and GMS Co. of Thailand will pool capital to build the Jinghong and Nuozhadu power stations on the Lancang River, which connects China by water to five southeast Asian countries.

The Nuozhadu Power Station, with a designed installed capacity of 5.85 million kilowatts, will be the fifth of eight power stations planned along the Lancang River in the province.

The sixth, Jinghong Power Station, will be located in the northern suburbs of Jinghong in Yunnan Province with an installed capacity of 1.5 million kilowatts.

Kou Wei, general manager of the Huaneng Group, said construction on Jinghong Power Station will start this year while that on Nuozhadu is scheduled to begin next year. The project is expected to cost 9 billion yuan (US$1.093 billion).

Upon completion, the two power stations will deliver electricity to energy-short Guangdong Province and to Thailand in accordance with practical needs.

Originating in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in western China, the Lancang-Mekong River is called Lancang in the Chinese territory and runs through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam before entering the South China Sea. It is the only river in Asia that flows through six nations.

The section of Lancang River in Yunnan Province, totaling 1,240 km in length, has exploitable water sources of 22.59 million kw. The total installed capacity of the eight planned stations is expected to be 16.05 million kw.

Currently, the province has power stations at Manwan and Dachaoshan, with construction underway on another at Xiaowan.

(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2004)