Energy
Electricity production
Dams and droughts, data and diplomacy in the Mekong
As the Mekong Region faces more intense floods and droughts every year, data sharing and water diplomacy are emerging as new narratives for transboundary water governance. “This year, every country in the Lancang-Mekong Region is facing severe floods. But our challenge is now compounded by Covid-19. ...
Rajesh Daniel
As Warming and Drought Increase, A New Case for Ending Big Dams
As the hydroelectric dam industry tries to reposition itself as a climate change solution, more and more evidence shows that climate change actually undermines the case for hydro dams. Gone are the days when hydropower was considered the predominant engine of the world economy, leading a ...
JACQUES LESLIE
Sun Not Shining on Myanmar Junta’s Solar Power Projects
Just six companies, including Chinese firms and local companies with connections to the military regime, have made bids for the 12 solar power projects Myanmar’s junta put up for tender in May, although some 40 firms including Thai companies have expressed interest in the projects. The ...
THE IRRAWADDY
Lights off in Myanmar
The energy sector has been a site of international investment in Myanmar, but, with foreign investors jittery and blackouts escalating, it is also a site of resistance against the military coup. Robert Bociaga reports. For people in Myanmar the energy sector has become an important battleground as they ...
Robert Bociaga
Cambodia ‘to achieve 20 percent of energy supplies from solar’
Scores of seven solar photovoltaic (PV) projects are in the pipeline for construction and ready to put into operation by 2023. The Cambodian government aims to generate 20 percent of energy from renewable energy. The news was revealed by Permanent Secretary of States at the Ministry ...
Chea Vanyuth
The Mekong River’s Dam Problem
The Mekong River stretches through 6 countries and sustains the lives of millions of people – but the river is under threat, experiencing record drought in recent years. Environmentalists believe huge hydropower dams, many built by China, are to blame. We speak with Thai activist ...
New Reports Point to Dams 'Stressing' Cambodia's Mekong River Fisheries
Kong Kim, a fisherman in Cambodia’s northeast, is worried about the next few years. “I am concerned that there will be no fish in the future,” the 62-year-old told VOA Khmer earlier this week. “Fish are now less and less.” Once he could fish the Mekong River ...
Sun Narin
20 major dams and reservoirs in Thailand present overflow risk
Thailand’s Office of the National Water Resources has requested that irrigation officials be ready to manage the discharge of excess water from 20 major dams and reservoirs. The heavy monsoon rains this year have led to potentially dangerous overflow conditions. Officials from the ONWR have instructed people living ...
Ann Carter / SOURCE: Thai PBS World
Untold impact on northern Thailand’s wildlife from Mekong dams
About a year ago, the Boon Rueang Wetland Forest Conservation Group began a survey of wildlife in the 483-hectare community forest in northern Thailand. “We have recorded some leopards, otters and other animals,” says Songpol Chanruang, chair of the group. Though only around 130 kilometres long, ...
Tyler Roney, Piyaporn Wongruang
Lao villagers still disenfranchised three years after eviction
Villagers who were evicted from their homes in northern Laos to make way for a new hydroelectric dam remain disenfranchised three years on, according to media reports. The villagers relocated from Xayaburi province in 2018 are housed in resettlement towns where they lack enough land and ...
UCA News reporter, Vientiane