Source: The Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Department of Energy Policy and Planning (2019), Lao Energy Balance Table Collection Historical. 14 December. The industry and commercial sectors consume biomass, but at a lower rate than the residential sector, which dominates the country’s consumption.
Source: The Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Department of Energy Policy and Planning (2019), Lao PDR Energy Outlook Result ¬(Lao PDR_Template_BAU_APS_LCET August 2022). Oil is an important energy source for Lao PDR because the entire transport sector depends on it.
In addition to hydropower, Laos has also been exploring other renewable energy sources, such as solar and biomass. The country’s first large-scale solar power plant, with a capacity of 10 MW, was commissioned in 2018, and several other solar projects are currently under development.
As there were many power plants in Lao PDR generating electricity for export in 2019, the export figure reached 25,048 gigawatt-hours (GWh) or equivalent to 2.15 Mtoe. This amounted to more than half of all electricity consumed in the country and 77% of total hydropower generation.
This study suggests that the Lao PDR has more options with respect to its future energy outlook, including energy eficiency and conservation, reducing the TFEC by 10%, improving the eficiency of thermal power generation, promoting renewable energy, and reducing the use of fossil fuels in the primary energy supply.
Coal is below the target at 14% of the share in the National Power Development Strategy (NPDS), but it is good for Lao PDR because it reduces CO emissions. Other sources (solar, wind, and other forms of energy sources) have surpassed their target at 11% due to fuel switching.