Energy

Electricity production

Laos Builds Road and Workers’ Camp for Luangprabang Dam Ahead of Formal Approval

A Thai dam developer has begun clearing land for a large-scale Mekong River dam near the ancient Lao capital Luang Prabang before signing a hydropower sale pact required for approval, raising concerns from downstream communities already hit hard by Laos’ aggressive damming of the vital ...

RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Vietnam considers scrapping half of coal power plant pipeline in favour of gas and renewables

The coming decade could see Vietnam shelve nearly half of its currently planned coal power plant capacity as alternative sources of energy take up growing shares in its power mix, the government-affiliated research body tasked with drawing up the nation’s next power sector roadmap has ...

Tim Ha

BCPG eager to build Asean's largest wind farm in Laos

SET-listed BCPG Plc, a renewable energy arm of Bangchak Corporation Plc, plans to build Asean’s largest wind farm in Laos to generate revenue from rising demand for electricity. The company announced it will spend US$ 840 million, around 26.8 billion baht, developing the facility, with a ...

YUTHANA PRAIWAN

Large hydropower projects to continue in Myanmar Govt

Although electricity generated by natural gas is expected to rise, Myanmar is planning to continue implementing large hydropower projects such as the Myitsone Dam project to meet the country’s electricity needs, U Khin Maung Win, Deputy Minister of Electricity and Energy, told Pyidaungsu Hluttaw on ...

Kang Wan Chern

Drought, Dams on Mekong River Drop Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake to Record Low Levels

Climate change, drought, and upstream dams have led to record low water levels on the Mekong River, according to experts, who say the shortage is significantly harming Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake and the surrounding fishing communities who rely on it to earn a living. The water ...

Reported and translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

A broken dam and broken promises: Laos doubles down on hydropower despite risks

Two years ago this week, a dam in southern Laos collapsed, releasing a flood that displaced over 7,000 people and killed at least 71. When a section of the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydropower project broke on July 23, 2018, it sent 500 million cubic meters of ...

All eyes on Chinese dams as Mekong countries count down to the monsoon

Researchers are worried that Chinese dams will hold back much of the water in the Mekong River this year, similar to last year’s erratic flow after the monsoon which exacerbated the drought in the Northeast of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. China’s dams have recently contributed ...

Mekong is at historical lows

The Mekong is once again at historical lows. The Mekong River Commission (MRC) gauge at Phnom Penh Port shows river level to be four metres below average for this time of year – and lower than last year’s record. This gauge is measuring river level on ...

Mark Hughes

Water wars: Mekong River another front in U.S.-China rivalry

The Mekong River has become a new front in U.S.-China rivalry, environmentalists and officials say, with Beijing overtaking Washington in both spending and influence over downstream countries at the mercy of its control of the river’s waters. It’s a confrontation in which the Trump administration – ...

Kay Johnson, Panu Wongcha-um

China’s Post-Pandemic Water Woes

Few places have suffered more from the COVID-19 pandemic than southern China, the region where the novel coronavirus was first detected in the city of Wuhan. But it turned out that the pandemic is not the only calamity to befall south China this year. The ...

Scott Moore

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