Laos aims to quadruple its hydropower capacity by 2030

Laos plans to quadruple its hydropower generation capacity from current levels by the end of the decade and step up electricity exports to neighbouring countries, including China, its deputy minister for energy and mines said.

Laos is among Asia's poorest countries but has big ambitions to become the "battery of Southeast Asia" by exporting power generated from its ample water resources.

Laos currently exports two-thirds of the 3,200 megawatts of hydropower it generates, and the country had another 6,000MW under construction, Viraphonh Viravong said.

"We expect by 2020, we'll have 12,000MW in operation with two-thirds for the export market," Viravong said on the sidelines of the Singapore International Energy Week.

"By 2030, we may double that capacity to 24,000MW, which is nearly all the hydro potential in Laos."

Power and mining exports, the biggest contributors to Laos' gross domestic product, could account for nearly a third of its GDP before 2020, up from over 20 per cent now, he said.