The concession to build the line was awarded on 22 June 1899 but the work proceeded slowly.

The concession will be awarded on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis for a period of 30 years.

The concessions would be awarded based on the lowest tariff submitted by prequalified bidders.

The concessions, which took effect in August, were awarded to the following Joint Ventures:

Such a concession is only awarded to satellites which would abide by the treaty and explicitly excludes any military satellites.

A thirty-year concession will be awarded to a private company, which is expected to clean and beautify the river from 2006 to 2010.

A concession covering some 80 per cent of this area has recently been awarded to a state-owned logging concern.

Also, water losses had already been reduced significantly before the concession had been awarded, according to the same report.

The Nam Theun 2 project was identified in the 1980s and a concession was awarded in 1993.

The concession was awarded by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture on 2 July 2006, with a duration of 15 years.