Energy
Electricity production
Dammed Mekong: lasting challenges for the region’s energy security
The recent collapse of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy dam in Laos shows Southeast Asia’s vulnerability to natural disasters and highlights the importance of emergency preparedness, safety regulation, and sustainable development planning in energy security policies. It also demonstrates the growing asymmetry that’s emanating from an economic ...
Vietnam continues aid to victims of Lao dam collapse
The High Command of Military Region 5 and the South Laos Friendship Co., Ltd are continuing to direct their units to send personnel to the Lao province of Attapeu to help local residents affected by of the collapse of the Sepien-Senamnoi hydropower dam overcome the ...
Lao hydropower dam disaster offers great lessons on safety: expert
The hydropower dam collapse in Laos should be seen as a valuable lesson about dam safety, according to Dao Trong Tu from the Vietnam River Network. Keep reading ...
Mekong River water level above warning line in Southern Laos, flooding 161 villages
The governor of Lao province Champasak, Bounthong Divixay, said that until Monday, the water level of the Mekong River is 49 centimeters above the warning line and over a hundred villages around the province are flooded, including 24 villages of the province’s capital city Pakse, ...
Dam calamity a wake-up call for Mekong hazards
The recent case of the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy dam collapse in Laos is a timely reminder that there are potential hazardous factors associated with the failure of storage dams. These include large mass movements into a reservoir close to the dam such as a sudden ...
Death toll rises to 9 after dam collapse in Laos, 122 remain missing
Nine people were confirmed dead while 122 others were still missing after a dam collapsed, triggering flash flood in southern Laos on Monday, a provincial official said on Sunday. []However, if they subtracted the number of rescued villagers from the total population of these affected villages, ...
More aid from Vietnam reaches survivors of Lao dam collapse
The National Committee for Disaster Response and Search and Rescue has asked the Ministry of National Defence to join disaster relief efforts for victims in the collapse of the Sepien-Senamnoi hydropower dam in Laos following the instruction of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Keep reading ...
Commentary: The Laos dam collapse, and the hidden costs of the Mekong's hydroelectric plans
Beyond concern for the undoubted human costs of the collapse of a dam in Laos, this event once again focuses attention on the long-term effect of the massive expansion of hydropower in the Mekong Basin. Keep reading ...
Lao's controversial hydro ambitions
Mountainous and landlocked Lao PDR, known as the “Battery of Asia”, is building dozens of dams at breakneck speed so it can sell energy to power-hungry neighbours as a fast track out of poverty. But the communist country’s ambitious power plans are highly controversial. Keep reading ...
Cambodia to evacuate 25,000 people downstream of collapsed Laos dam
An estimated 25,000 people are being evacuated from a northern Cambodian province following extensive flooding due to the collapse of a massive hydropower dam in neighboring Laos. Authorities in Stung Treng province are attempting to evacuate towns and villages downstream from the dam, which has ...
