The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has given a Thai firm a nearly $700 million grant to build the largest cross-border wind farm in Southeast Asia as the Thai energy sector continues its evolution to renewables and greater sustainability.
The $692.5 million funding by the ADB will go to Monsoon Wind Power Company to help construct a 600-megawatt wind farm in the neighboring Lao PDR. The electricity generated from the facility will be sold to Vietnam.
“Developing economies in Asia and the Pacific face shortfalls in climate investments that are needed to clear a pathway to green growth,” said Suzanne Gaboury, Director-General of ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department.
“The financing from ADB and its partners will help unlock Lao PDR’s untapped wind resources, providing a basis for a transition to clean energy,” said Gaboury.
For many years, Thailand has been the leader in solar and wind energy production in Southeast Asia. Many Thai power producers engaged in fossil fuels have begun transitioning to greener forms of energy and are expanding their presence throughout the immediate region and beyond.
The Kingdom has fully committed to the Paris Climate Accords and has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emission by 40 percent by 2030, achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2065.
Now, the Kingdom’s energy firms are also helping neighbors reduce their emissions and achieve their reduction goals.
The wind farm will also help Lao PDR to grow its economy and infrastructure. Because of its hydropower, wind power and other forms of electricity production, economists have said that Lao PDR has the potential to become “the battery of Southeast Asia.”
