Electricity production
Hydropower dams
Thailand’s Energy Review Delays Launch of Controversial Mekong Dam
A major energy review by Thailand has delayed the launch of a controversial dam on the Mekong. This could lead to further questions about future hydropower projects along the river. The Chinese-backed Pak Beng dam in Laos was supposed to be the third dam under construction ...
The hidden costs of hydropower
Hydropower is one of Southeast Asia’s biggest renewable energy sources, however, many still remain oblivious to the damaging side-effects of hydropower projects. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), hydropower capacity in the region grew almost threefold from 16 GW to 44 GW between ...
China eyes role as world’s power supplier
Deep in a tangle of planning bureaucracies in western Beijing, the future of a country nearly 3,000km away is under discussion. Xie Qiuye, president of China’s Electric Power Planning & Engineering Institute, has been charged with developing an electricity plan for Laos, a nation struggling ...
Hydropower in Cambodia could threaten food security of region
Farmers and anglers in Cambodia depend on the Mekong River’s predictable seasonal patterns, but new dams for hydroelectricity are altering the hydrology of the river. These changes have the potential to threaten fish migration, livelihoods, and regional food security. Keep reading ...
New dam in Cambodia 'would destroy Mekong'
A Chinese-backed plan for Cambodia to build the Mekong River’s biggest dam would destroy fisheries that feed millions and worsen tensions with Vietnam, the downstream country with most to lose from dams on the waterway, according to a three-year study commissioned by the Cambodian government. Keep ...
Leaked report warns Cambodia's biggest dam could 'literally kill' Mekong river
A Chinese-backed plan to build Cambodia’s biggest dam could “literally kill” the Mekong river, according to a confidential assessment seen by the Guardian which says that the proposed site at Sambor is the “worst possible place” for hydropower. Keep reading ...
Hydro dam battle taking on new allies
As resistance mounts to hydroelectric dam projects along the Mekong River, local leaders have tried to engage civic movements in the Mekong sub-region in the battle. The latest group to emerge is the Transborder News Network, which held a forum on dam project investments and ...
IUCN And Conservation International Concerned About Mekong Tributaries
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Conservation International, in collaboration with the Cambodia National Mekong Committee, disseminated a report May 10 on the Freshwater Health Index, a tool to assess freshwater ecosystem health in the Sesan, Srepok and Sekong rivers, which are major tributaries ...
Dams threaten local basin: report
A river basin hosting three Mekong tributaries and providing a livelihood for 3.4 million people is under threat because of the construction of 65 dams, according to a study issued in Phnom Penh on Thursday by conservation groups. Conservative International (CI) and the International Union for ...
Mekong River nations face the hidden costs of China's dams
Dozens of projects threaten agriculture and fishing in Southeast Asia. Sam In, a 48-year-old rice farmer from Cambodia’s northeastern province of Stung Treng, never knew that people paid for water until he was forced to move out of his home on the banks of a Mekong ...
