Tokyo Electric Power Company, Incorporated (TEPCO) today began on-site activities for the 
"Consulting Project to Formulate a Master Plan for a 500,000-Volt International Transmission 
System." Under contract with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), an international development 
organization, TEPCO will carry out the project in the Mekong basin between Laos and Vietnam. 

In this consulting project (scheduled from December 2008 to November 2009), TEPCO will 
accordingly dispatch engineers from the transmission and power system departments and experts 
in social and environmental impact assessment and financial analysis to formulate a master 
plan for a 500,000-volt international transmission system that will connect the Lao People's 
Democratic Republic (hereinafter "Laos") and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam (hereinafter 
"Vietnam") via the Kingdom of Cambodia (hereinafter "Cambodia"). Economic, environmental and 
social factors will be taken into account while developing the master plan. 

In Vietnam, a pressing issue is how to best deal with the soaring domestic demand for electricity 
especially in the southern regions. The country is considering purchasing electricity from Laos 
through this project's pending 500,000-volt international transmission system. Further Laos can 
expect to yield foreign exchange income by selling some of its domestically generated electricity 
to Vietnam via the newly constructed transmission system. 

All three of these countries, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia requested support from the ADB who 
in response, carefully considered the structure of the electric utility business in Laos and 
Vietnam as well as the opinions of Cambodia, where the transmission lines will pass through. 
Consequently, search began for a consulting company capable of developing and verifying a plan 
to build a 500,000-volt international transmission system. TEPCO won the contract due to its 
excellent and reliable track record of constructing and operating transmission systems. 

TEPCO, in leveraging its technological expertise and know-how has already carried out various 
consulting projects successfully in many foreign countries, including the formulation of power 
resources system plans and energy conservation master plans. This new project will provide 
TEPCO with the opportunity to contribute to the further development of the Mekong basin. 

Appendices 
Appendix: Outline of the "Consulting Project to Formulate a Master Plan for a 500,000-Volt  
          International Transmission System"(PDF 70.9KB) 
Reference 1: The Electric Utility Business in Laos (PDF 98.7KB) 
Reference 2: The Electric Utility Business in Vietnam (PDF 78.9KB) 
Reference 3: Mekong Basin (PDF 78.1KB)