---On October 25, 2023, the Asian Cooperation Fund Project "Demonstration and Application of Solar-powered Water Pumping & Irrigation Technology for Lancang-Mekong Countries" undertaken by HRC successfully passed the acceptance. The project will last for three years, inside which joint research, technology demonstration and capacity building shall be carried out on the basis of investigating the hydropower and solar power potential and the irrigation needs of agriculture in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
According to the project requirements, in 2022 HRC conducted a survey on the hydropower and solar power resources and the agricultural development status together with relevant departments of Laos, analyzed the technical and economic feasibility of off-grid solar-powered water pumping & irrigation system, carried out the multi-purpose joint planning of irrigation, power generation and water saving, and proposed a rural microgrid planning and dispatching method and mode with high proportion of renewable energy and irrigation load. Furthermore, two demonstrative sites have been established in Salavan Province, Laos, and a total of 22 technical and managerial talents of solar-powered water pumping & irrigation in Lancang-Mekong countries have been trained. The implementation objectives and task requirements of the project in Laos in 2022 have been fully achieved, which has been unanimously approved by the expert group.
The implementation of the project has effectively promoted technical exchanges and cooperation between China and Lancang-Mekong countries in the field of renewable energy with remarkable economic, social and environmental benefits, and played an important role in advancing the sustainable development of local agriculture and the well-being of the people. (2023-11-07)
