Laos has signed a US$1.45 billion clean energy deal with a Chinese power plant equipment manufacturer as the country furthers its push into clean power generation and transmission.

China Western Power Industrial, along with a Singapore-based construction company, signed the agreement with Xekong Thermal Power Plant in Laos to design, supply, and build a 1,800-megawatt clean energy power project in southern Laos, according to a stock exchange filing by the Sichuan-based company on Monday.

Shares of the Shenzhen-listed firm jumped 9.9 percent after the filing. So far this year, the stock has surged 46.3 percent.

The project is expected to be completed by the beginning of 2030, with initial designs to be finished by the end of this year.

On the day, the Chinese company also signed a power transmission deal, valued at US$228.8 million, with the same Laotian company.

In 2022, China Western Power signed a supply and service deal worth US$409 million with another power company in Laos.

And last year, a state-owned power company signed an agreement with Laos to expand a wind and solar energy base in the north of the country.

Laos, a mountainous country, has produced about 80 percent of its electricity from hydropower over the last decade but has struggled to scale up its solar and wind power. (Reuters)