Electricity production
Hydropower dams
Mother Nature and a hydropower onslaught aren’t the Mekong Delta’s only problems
Early this year, many Mekong Delta farmers fought a losing battle against an epic drought, the worst since 1926. Was the drought a harbinger of climate change? Perhaps it was, but more certainly it was an artifact of El Niño. The same ocean-warming phenomenon that ...
Expert: Law on renewable energy needed
A law on renewable energy is needed to ensure sustainable and effective development of renewable energy, according to Dr. Duong Duy Hoat from the Institute of Energy Science. The Government needs to instruct ministries, sectors and localities to make plans for developing renewable energy on the ...
Kayah residents protest planned Pwunchaung dam
About 500 residents of Bawlakhe township, Kayah State, on October 11 protested plans to build a dam on Pwunchaung Stream, as water and soil examination continues. Transparency and environmental impact are the major concerns for the protestors, who already sent letters to the president and state ...
Documentary raises alarm over Shan region threatened by Salween dam
Activists on September 28 released a 30-minute documentary as part of a campaign against a mega-dam in central Shan State. The documentary, called Drowning a Thousand Islands, includes local people from the remote Kunhing area voicing their concerns that the proposed Mong Ton hydropower project will irrevocably ...
Hydropower plants or “hydropower bombs”?
The recent incident at Song Bung Hydropower Plant has alerted Vietnam to reconsider the construction of so many hydroelectric plants, which have been compared to “timebombs”. Those who visit the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang cannot miss Ma Pi Leng, one of the four most ...
Malaysia to buy power from Laos via Thai power grid
Laos, Thailand and Malaysia concluded a deal on September 21 which will see Malaysia buy 100 MW of electricity from Laos via Thailand’s power grid. Top energy officials of the three countries signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the sidelines of the 34th ASEAN Ministers on Energy ...
China media: opposition to hydropower dams in Myanmar is “extreme”
Opposition to Chinese-invested hydropower schemes in Myanmar is being orchestrated by “extreme” groups in the country and has been extremely damaging to joint investment projects, an influential Chinese newspaper wrote on September 19. The suspension in 2011 of the US$3.6 billion Myitsone mega dam project by former ...
Experts warn of water scarcity
Low levels at dams could lead to problems if resources not carefully managed. While there is enough water available, resources have to be managed very carefully, as water experts have warned that mismanagement could result in serious problems. Sucharit Koontanakulvong, head of water resources engineering at ...
Bokeo families relocate to make way for dam
Resettlement of communities from areas of the Nam Tha 1 hydropower project is 87 percent complete, with displaced families in Bokeo province having been moved to a new location. Assistant Managing Director of Electricite du Laos Mr Vilaphone Visounnarath, who is Head of the Resettlement Management ...
Life of the Salween highlights Southeast Asia's dam concerns
To reach this village, you leave Mae Sariang in northwestern Thailand and drive a couple of hours along winding roads carved into the sides of valleys before reaching a landing on the wide, fast flowing Salween river. You take the steps down a muddy bank to ...
