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18 July 2003 - Electricité de France (EdF) on Thursday backed away from participating in the Laos' Nam Theun Hydro power project just ahead of a scheduled meeting at which the power purchase agreement with Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) was due to be signed.
Egat was expected to be the principle customer for the long delayed project in which EdF has a 25 per cent stake. EdF International announced the decision in Paris.
"The board of EdF International, after hearing the advice from the strategic committee and representatives of the (French) state, has made the decision to withdraw from the Nam Theun dam project in Laos and, therefore, will not sign the power purchase agreement with EGAT," EdF said.
EdF said it would continue to assist in the project until the end of the year so that a new financial structure could be found which excluded EdF. The other partners in the Nam Theun 2 project are the Laotian government and Thailand's Electricity Generating PCL with 25 per cent each, and leading Thai construction firm Italian-Thai Development PCL, which holds the remaining 15 per cent.
The Thai government has recently approved the draft power purchase agreement under which EGAT will buy from 2009 up to 995 MW of the project's total annual capacity of 1070 MW. The remaining 75 MW would go to Laos.
The project has faced opposition from environmental groups opposed to the project's impact on the environment. The International Rivers Network, a non-government organization, said EdF's withdrawal put the future of the $1.1bn project in doubt and said it was a positive move.
EdF said, "this decision is part of EdF's strategy to consolidate its assets and to refocus its priority on Europe."
At home EdF is under pressure from right wing political elements which have fiercely attacked the leadership of the state-owned energy giant for risking taxpayers money on "reckless and ill-considered" overseas acquisitions.
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