The 600MW Monsoon Wind Power Project, the first wind farm in Laos and the largest in South-East Asia, is located in Sekong and Attapeu provinces. - Photo: monsoonwindasia.com
VIENTIANE (Laotian Times): Commercial operations of the Monsoon Wind Project, Laos’s first and South-East Asia’s largest onshore wind farm, is expected to begin by late August or early September.
Deputy Governor of Sekong Province, Khanti Seelavongsa, announced the timeline during a provincial council meeting on 15 July.
Currently operating at half capacity with 300 megawatts, the 600-megawatt wind farm, valued at approximately USD 950 million, spans 70,800 hectares across of Sekong’s Dak Cheung district and Attapeu’s Sanxay district in southern Laos.
Positioned at elevations between 1,100 and 1,700 meters above sea level, it stands as the first cross-border wind project in the ASEAN region
The project consists of 133 onshore turbines, each generating 4.51 megawatts.
Electricity generated by the project will be exported to Vietnam via a 500-kilovolt transmission line stretching 65 kilometers, 22 km in Laos and 43 km in Vietnam. This is supported by a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) signed with Vietnam Electricity (EVN).
The project began in 2011 with a memorandum of understanding between the government of Laos and the International Energy Agency to develop large-scale wind farms. Following extensive feasibility studies, the Dak Cheung and Sanxay districts were identified as optimal locations in 2015.
Later in September 2019, the Vietnamese government approved the wind project, saying it could safely connect to the power grid in Vietnam.
Construction began in April 2023, and in the same year, the first wind turbine was put up in October.
By 19 May 2025, all turbines were installed, according to ACEN Renewables International, a renewable energy company that owns part of the project.
The Monsoon Wind Project is now part of Sekong Province’s growing energy network, along with two other hydropower dams, Nam Emoun and Houay La Ngae. - Laotian Times
