The deal was signed by Serguei Edrenkine, General Director of Gazprom Marketing & Trading Singapore and Sisavath Thiravong of Electricite du Laos in front of assembled dignitaries, including Khammany Inthirath, Deputy Minister for Energy and Mines and other officials from the Laotian government, and representatives from the Russian embassy in Laos.
The estimated volume of CERs is 312,290 tCO² per year from 2016 to 2020 and these emission reductions are the result of EdL’s investment in a new hydro power plant, the Nam Khan 2 Project. The project, once commissioned in 2015, will lead to generating an output of 568,700 MWh power per annum from 2016. This project is expected to receive a positive World Commission on Dams (WCD) report supporting its sustainability and respect of social concerns. The region still has a high dependence on coal fuelled energy, and this will be a significant contribution to its emission reductions and fight against climate change.
This project will follow the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process via the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in the coming months. As per the Least Developed Country (LDC) status of Laos, these credits will be able to be used for compliance under the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EUETS) until 2020.
Commenting on this deal, Mr Edrenkine, General Director of GM&TS, said: “We are very pleased to have signed this agreement with EdL not only because it cements our continuing efforts to provide solutions to our partners for a low-carbon economy but also because it is our first carbon deal with EdL, a significant energy company in the region. We are very confident it will be an excellent platform for further cooperation in Laos and Southeast Asia.
Speaking on behalf of Electricite du Laos, Mr Thiravong, Managing Director of Electricite du Laos, remarked, “We too are very pleased to have signed this agreement with Gazprom Marketing & Trading because we share their commitment to a low carbon economy, and this agreement is also consistent with the larger economic development plans of Lao PDR. Gazprom is a truly global energy company and we share their optimism about future collaboration.