Cambodia and Neighbouring Nations Discusses New Hydropower Dam Project
AKP Phnom Penh, October 10, 2019 --

Senior technical representatives from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam discussed the 1,460 megawatt Luang Prabang hydropower project proposed on the Mekong mainstream in Lao PDR, according to the Mekong River Commission (MRC)'s press release.

They are part of MRC’s Joint Committee Working Group (JCWG) for the Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement (PNPCA).

In the meeting held on Oct. 8, 2019 in Vientiane, the JCWG has agreed on the official starting date of a six-month prior consultation process for Luang Prabang hydropower project.

“The Commission is informed by scientific studies about both significant benefits of hydropower development and its potential negative transboundary impacts. The prior consultation enables the notified states, potentially affected communities and related stakeholders to have detailed information about the proposed project, review it and raise their legitimate concerns on possible cross-border environmental and socio-economic consequences of the project,” said Chairperson of the Meeting Dr. Truong Hong Tien, who is also the Deputy Director General of the Viet Nam National Mekong Committee.

The prior consultation will involve two regional stakeholder forums and national stakeholder meetings in the three notified countries to discuss and document legitimate concerns that will be presented to the Joint Committee, along with other types of information for their discussion and evaluation of the project. A field trip to the Luang Prabang dam site and surrounding area will also be arranged for interested stakeholders during the six-month process.

The first forum “8th Regional Stakeholder Forum” will devote a day on Nov. 6, 2019 to share more information about the project, including a panel of the MRC Joint Committee Members and CEO to hear and reflect on views from the public. This is part of the MRC’s commitment to continually improve stakeholder engagement process.

Dr. An Pich Hatda, Chief Executive Officer of the MRC Secretariat, noted that “the prior consultation is not a process to seek approval for a proposed project. Rather, it is a platform for Cambodia, Thailand and Viet Nam, as the notified countries, to raise issues of concern on potential effects that the project may have on their territories, with technical review and analyses facilitated by the MRC Secretariat”.

“The process is also an opportunity for Lao PDR who proposes the project to better understand the concerns and consider measures to address them,” he added.
https://www.akp.gov.kh/post/detail/18409

Lemmings
- we are.
Launching
- just about now..

See you all in Hell.
- tomorrow morning.

15 October 2019
Laos’ hydropower industry is developing fast. In 2005, there were only nine hydro plants across the country with an installed capacity of 680MW, generating 3,237kWh per year.

Today, 63 dams are operational with 7,207MW of installed capacity which can generate 37,366kWh per year. Another 37 dams are under construction and expected to be complete by 2020-2021 with an installed capacity of 5,170MW, generating 25,276 kWh per year.

There are plans to build a further 55 dams with 2,570MW of installed capacity. Meanwhile, feasibility studies have been carried out on 282 hydro plants with planned 13,256MW of installed capacity that would generate 52,000kWh of electricity per year when built.

VIENTIANE TIMES/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

Laos hydro project opens on dried-out Mekong
Environmentalists warn of devastating impact on fish species, sediment and water levels
October 30, 2019
A multi-billion dollar hydro-electric power plant on the Mekong river in Laos was officially switched on Tuesday, as drone images of dried-up downstream areas stirred fresh outcry on one of the world’s great rivers.

The Thai-owned Xayaburi dam has been a lightning rod for criticism even before construction began in 2012, with environmentalists warning of its devastating impact on the river’s fish species, sediment and water levels.

The Mekong – which rises on the Tibetan plateau and courses through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam – sustains tens of millions of people along its banks through fishing and transport.

But rapid development has alarmed communities along its banks, as well as conservationists who have observed shocking changes to the life-giving waterway.

Landlocked and impoverished Laos has set its sights on becoming “the battery of Asia,” with 44 operating hydro plants and 46 more under construction, according to the monitor International Rivers.

CKPower, a subsidiary of the builder and majority shareholder Ch Kanchang, went ahead with the $4.47 billion construction of the 1,285-megawatt project despite criticism.

“Xayaburi Hydroelectric Power Plant is ready to commence,” CKPower said in a statement Tuesday.

Developers plastered Thai newspapers with advertising touting the Xayaburi dam as a “fish friendly power plant” and the “blueprint of renewable energy.”

But drone footage taken Monday downstream in Thailand’s Nong Khai province suggested a different story, as plummeting water levels exposed vast areas of parched river bed.

Pianporn Deetes, of International Rivers, said some parts of the Mekong in that region had experienced worrying drops in water levels since July coinciding with Xayaburi’s trial operations.

“They have monopolized the future of the Mekong’s ecosystems and of the river basin’s population,” she told AFP, adding it was difficult to fully evaluate because of a lack of information.

Contacted by AFP, the company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Thailand is supposed to buy almost all of the electricity generated by Xayaburi.
https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/10/artic ... ut-mekong/

February 21, 2020
Stakeholders visiting dam call Lao Hydro developer to share data

Cambodian, Thai and Vietnamese stakeholders have urged Xayaburi hydropower developer to share information on its hydropower plant in northern Laos, Mekong River Commission said.

In a statement released yesterday, the Vientiane-based intergovernmental agency said the comments were made during a visit to the plant on February 7.

The 1,260-megawatt plant, which includes the first dam across the mainstream of the Mekong River outside China, started operating late last year.

Chea Narin from the Cambodian Ministry of Mines and Energy said Cambodia wanted to see the plant developer and owner continue addressing past concerns and share more information with the MRC Secretariat.

“The dam operation rules should also be shared with the MRC Secretariat and the other MRC member countries so that coordinated operations of the dams on the mainstream of the Mekong could be established,” he said.

Patchara Jaturakomol, a researcher from Thailand’s Kasetsart University, said in the statement that an absence of flow data sharing made her think the facility was storing water.

“It’s hard not to think that the dam isn’t storing the water when you saw the water levels on the upstream and downstream of the dams are different,” she said.

Nguyen Nhan Quang, from the Vietnamese Centre for Promotion of Integrated Water Resources Management, said data on sediment and fish migration above and below the dam should be shared along with information on power generation.

Anoulak Kittikhoun, chief strategy and partnership officer at the MRC Secretariat, said the agency wants stakeholders to see the dam and its operation with their own eyes and pose questions to the developer so they could make their own assessments.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50693643/s ... share-data

Laos pushes ahead with sixth Mekong River dam project
By Reuters May 12, 2020 | 09:35 am GMT+7

Laos has submitted plans to build a new hydropower dam on the Mekong River, with construction expected to start later this year, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) said on Monday.

The Sanakham hydropower plant, with an estimated cost of $2.073 billion, will be developed by Datang Sanakham Hydropower company, a subsidiary of China’s Datang International Power Generation Co. Ltd., MRC said.

Hydropower development is central to the Laos government’s plan to export around 20,000 megawatts of electricity to its neighbors by 2030 and the latest project would be the sixth proposal of nine planned mainstream Mekong dams inside Laos.

Laos has completed two dams on the Mekong River, the 1,285-megawatt Xayaburi Dam and the 260-megawatt Don Sahong Dam last year, despite objections by environmental groups.

Objectors said the dams threaten a river system whose fisheries, sediment and seasonal flooding for agriculture support some 60 million people.

Sanakham’s proposed site is located 155 kilometers north of Vientiane, the capital of Laos, and is projected to produce 684 megawatts of electricity once it starts operating in 2028.

The Sanakham dam is the sixth project that has been put forward to the prior consultation process with the MRC, an intergovernmental agency that works with regional governments.

China has funded numerous hydropower projects inside Laos, and it has built 11 dams on the upper reaches of the Mekong River inside Chinese territory that have come under scrutiny for allegedly altering the river's natural flow.

The Sanakham project will now have to go through an MRC prior consultation process, which normally lasts for six months, where other MRC members including Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam can review the project and assess any cross-border impacts.

While they can suggest changes, the MRC consultation process cannot veto any project.
https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/laos- ... 97982.html

Consultation Period Extended for Fifth Mekong Mainstream Dam in Laos
AKP Phnom Penh, June 06, 2020 --

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) says it has extended the consultation period for the Luang Prabang hydropower project, which would be the fifth mainstream dam in Laos.

In a statement released Friday, MRC Joint Committee Chairman Dr. Somkiat Prajamwong cited “concerns and suggestions raised by Cambodia, Thailand and Viet Nam and other Mekong stakeholders.”

Dr. Somkiat, who is also Secretary General of Thailand’s Office of National Water Resources, said the consultation period was now scheduled to end on June 30.

The statement said the COVID-19 pandemic had delayed the six-month assessment of the proposed 1,460-megawatt project, initially scheduled to end on April 7.

On Thursday, the Joint Committee - comprising senior water and environment officials from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Viet Nam — decided “more time” was needed, the statement said.

This would allow member countries "to discuss and agree on recommended measures to avoid, minimise and mitigate potential cross-border adverse impacts from the project."

Dr. Somkiat said a “more meaningful conclusion” to the consultations would provide Laos with “well-rounded comments and recommendations” to address “potential transbounday negative impacts resulting from the dam.”

The project is being developed by a joint venture between the Lao government and PetroVietnam Power Corp under a memorandum of understanding dating back to 2007.

The proposed site across the Mekong is about 25 kilometres from the town of Luang Prabang in northern Laos.

The statement meanwhile said that MRC consultations on a sixth mainstream hydropower project in Laos were now scheduled to start after June.

The proposed Sanakham hydropower project is being developed by a unit of China’s Datang International Power Generation Co., Ltd. and is estimated to cost US$2.1 billion.

Generating 684-megawatts, the plant would be located on the Mekong about 155 kilometres north of Vientiane.

Dr. An Pich Hatda, ChiefEexecutive of the MRC Secretariat in Vientiane, said consultations “aim to keep the proposing country engaged and accountable.”
- AKP

Mekong nations urge Laos to review Luang Prabang dam impacts
By Viet Anh July 2, 2020 | 11:59 am GMT+7
Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand expressed concern after the Mekong River Commission (MRC) completed a six-month consultation process for the Luang Prabang Dam project on Tuesday. The MRC is an inter-governmental organization that works directly with the governments of Indochina countries to manage shared water resources.

Construction of the 1,400-megawatt Luang Prabang was set to begin this year.

The three countries said in a proposal put forward at a meeting of the Mekong River Commission Joint Committee that Laos should take measures to reduce the potential harm from the project.

The committee comprises senior officials at no less than Head of Department level from the four countries.

Cambodia wanted Laos to do further cross-border environmental impact assessments and provide more documents on silt management strategies.

Thailand said the country has to identify measures to minimize cross-border impacts on the economy, society, livelihoods, and environment.

Vietnam urged Laos and the other MRC members to make a comprehensive assessment of the impacts of not just Luang Prabang but all other dams on the Mekong’s mainstream.

In July last year Laos notified the MRC Secretariat of its intention to hold a Prior Consultation on the project. The notification contained a detailed description of the dam for the secretariat to review and inform the other member countries about its scope and other requirements.

The MRC’s Joint Committee Working Group on the Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement (PNPCA) met on October 8 and picked that date as the official starting date of the six-month consultation process. It was scheduled to end on April 7 this year, but was adjourned following the Covid-19 outbreak.

Luang Prabang is Laos' fifth hydropower project to come up before the MRC. The state-owned Luang Prabang Power Company Limited and PetroVietnam Power Corporation, a subsidiary of Vietnamese oil and gas company PetroVietnam, are the project developers.

The dam will be built in Houygno village in Luang Prabang Province.

Laos inaugurated the 1,285-MW Xayaburi Dam in October and the 260-MW Don Sahong Dam in January despite objections by environmental groups.
It also plans to build the Pak Lay and Sanakham dams.

Hydropower development is central to Laos’ plans to export around 20,000 MW of electricity to its neighbors by 2030.
https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/mekon ... 24290.html