Developing Small & Medium-Sized Hydropower Plants in Laos

Energy Education & Capacity Building



Austrian capital and know-how transfer promoting sustainable hydropower in Southeast Asia


Project Facts

Location
Laos
5 sites across the country

Applied Financing Solutions
Grants, Public-Private Partnership

Project Dates
Start: 2017 | End: 2023

The Story

Thanks to its mountainous topography and tropical climate with heavy precipitation, Laos provides a huge potential for hydropower, not only for domestic energy demand, but also for the supply of neighboring Southeast Asian countries. To reach its aim to triple production from this renewable energy source by 2030, the country strongly counts on the expertise of foreign project developers and private investors. The project development company RENDCOR (Renewable Energy Development Corporation), founded in 2017 as a joint venture between the Austrian development bank OeEB and the internationally renowned engineering and consulting firm ILF, taps into this potential. With its own office in the Laotian capital Vientiane and in cooperation with a local engineering company, RENDCOR prepares and develops small to medium-sized hydro plants as lighthouse projects for international investors meeting the highest technical, social and environmental standards. Through intensive training for Laotian engineers in Austria and directly on site, the project substantially contributes to local capacity building and quality employment.

Success Factor | Hero Moment
With this project, a new and innovative path was forged in Austrian development financing. For the first time, the OeEB development bank set up a joint venture with another company. This constellation and the support by the Austrian Development Agency enabled the development of several Laotian engineering offices to project development companies according to European standards. A real hero moment will be reached when they take over the lead in site development in the second project phase.

Submitter
RENDCOR GmbH, Austria

Other Involved Stakeholders
Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank (OeEB), ILF Consulting Engineers

Contact Mail
office@rendcor.at

Website
www.rendcor.at

Keywords
Hydropower, Joint Venture, Consulting