A look inside Xayaburi dam
The Xayaburi dam, with installed capacity of 1,260 MW, is the first one among 12 mainstream dams on the Mekong river. Located approximately 30 kilometers east of Xayaburi district, in northern Laos, this $3.2 billion dam is a controversial case: while Laos and dam-developers are steadily confirming that Xayaburi is a run-of-river project, the dam’s water retention is 1-2 days, meaning it does not qualify as a real ROR dam. The preliminary construction of the dam began in early 2012. The dam itself was suspended shortly thereafter due to complaints from downstream countries Cambodia and Vietnam. After making modifications to the dam’s design, Laos started full construction with a ceremony on 7 November 2012.
