Laos Finally Called Out over Xayaburi Dam

Laos Finally Called Out over Xayaburi Dam

Click on the link to get more news and video from original source:  http://thediplomat.com/asean-beat/2013/01/23/laos-finally-called-out-over-xayaburi-dam/

By Luke Hunt

January 23, 2013

Vietnam and Cambodia have finally found their voice. After months of obfuscating their position on the Lao government’s insistence on constructing the Xayaburi Dam and blocking the main stream of the Mekong River, leaders from both countries have pushed diplomatic niceties to the side and finally tackled Vientiane on the issue.

The refreshing shift in political tact came on the final day of a meeting among member countries in the Mekong River Commission (MRC), in which leaders from Vientiane could have been forgiven for thinking they had perhaps outfoxed their counterparts in Hanoi and Phnom Penh.

Laos reached an agreement with Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand more than a year ago to suspend construction of the U.S.$3.5 billion dam while independent studies were to be made on fish migration patterns and the possible threat posed by the dam to food security.

About 60 million people depend on the Mekong River for their livelihoods through a hand to mouth existence.

However, Vientiane ignored what amounted to a moratorium, Thai construction companies went to work immediately at the site and plans for further dams were released. Meanwhile, the Lao government insisted its citizens will prosper through the sale of electricity to neighboring countries produced by hydropower.

At last week’s MRC meeting, Cambodia demanded that all construction be immediately halted and argued that Laos had misinterpreted previous agreements. Meanwhile, Vietnam insisted that no dams be constructed until an agreed upon independent study is completed.

Lao Vice Minister of ­Energy and Mines Viraphonh Viravong attempted to defend his country’s stance, which seems to have the support of Thai construction companies, Chinese lenders and Lao politicians, but few others further afield.

Thai general contracting and infrastructure development group Ch Karnchang — through its 50 percent-owned subsidiary Xayaburi Power Co — has a 29-year concession to operate the dam’s 1,285 megawatt power plant, as well as assurances from Thailand that it will purchase about 95 percent of the electricity generated.

Cambodia and Vietnam are demanding a regional consensus before construction can start.

However, both countries have said little over recent months despite a steady flow of independent reports from Laos and comments made by Lao ministers indicating that the Lao government was proceeding with construction of the dam. In fact, building at the site began in November 2011.

Laos has faced unprecedented international scrutiny over the past year, initially with the Xayaburi Dam, then with its massive borrowing program primarily with China to fund an ambitious infrastructure program. Most recently, the country has come under scrutiny following last month’s disappearance of human rights activist Sombath Samphone.

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A River Trickles Through It: Laos’ Mekong Dam Draws Ire From Downstream Neighbors And Environmentalists

Click on the link to get more news and video from original source: http://www.ibtimes.com/river-trickles-through-it-laos-mekong-dam-draws-ire-downstream-neighbors-environmentalists-1026360

BY Ryan Villarreal | January 19 2013 9:27 AM

Laos’ construction of a hydropower dam on the Mekong River has angered its downstream neighbors and raised concerns about the project’s social and environmental impacts.

Construction of the $3.5 billion Xayaburi Dam began last November. It is the first of 11 projects the Laotian government plans to build along the lower portion of the river, which passes through Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.

Laos has drawn criticism from its Southeast Asian neighbors for beginning construction on the Xayaburi Dam without completing the consultation process through the Mekong River Commission, or MRC, an inter-governmental agency comprised of representatives from the four countries that manages the usage and development of the river.

Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Hong Ha Tran spoke Wednesday at an MRC Council Meeting in Luang Prabang, Laos, and he questioned the wisdom of beginning the Xayaburi project before a thorough analysis of its impact was completed.

“The launching of the first mainstream hydropower project recently in the Lower Mekong Basin is causing concerns of the governments of the riparian [river-adjacent] countries in the region and the international community about its adverse impacts on downstream areas,” he said.

“While we are still trying to do the research to understand its impacts, each riparian country should show their responsibility by assuring that any future development and management of water resources proposed in the basin should be considered with due care and full precaution based on best scientific understanding of the potential impacts,” he added.

Vietnam has demanded that Laos halt construction on the Xayaburi dam, pending the completion of an environmental impact review agreed upon by the MRC in December 2011.

The MRC Development Partners, which is comprised of donor governments — including the U.S., Japan, Germany and France — that have invested in the Mekong River’s management, released a joint statement expressing concern about any damming of the river’s main channel, upon which the Xayaburi damn is being built.

“It is our consensus that building dams on the mainstream of the Mekong may irrevocably change the river and hence constitute a challenge for food security, sustainable development and biodiversity conservation,” the statement read, according to a press release from International Rivers, a global NGO that advocates for the conservation and sustainable development of river systems.

Extensive research has already shown that dams are extremely disruptive to river ecosystems and riparian communities on multiple levels.

Damming prevents fish migrations, which downstream communities depend on for food. It also prevents rivers from transporting sediments, “which are critical for maintaining physical processes and habitats downstream of the dam (including the maintenance of productive deltas, barrier islands, fertile floodplains and coastal wetlands),” according to International Rivers.

This has negative implications for farmland and fresh water wells used by communities along river systems.

While these impacts are being considered with the Xayaburi Dam, Laos is relatively free to continue construction unhindered. Under the statutes of the MRC, Laos is obligated to hold consultations with member governments on such projects, but members have no legal framework to prevent it from moving forward with any given one.

“In the absence of an agreement, other countries can disagree if they like, but this can’t stop Laos,” said Jian-hua Meng, a specialist in sustainable hydropower at the World Wildlife Fund, the Guardian reported. “The role of the MRC is now being questioned along with the level of investment put in the organization.”

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Xayaburi Dam Threatens Riverside…

The New “Battery of Asia?” – Laos intends to build more than 70 dams along tributaries of the Mekong River

Click on the link to get more news and video from original source: http://thediplomat.com/2012/11/01/laos-is-damning-the-mekong-river/?all=true

By Luke Hunt

November 01, 2012

Laos intends to build more than 70 dams along tributaries of the Mekong River. While there are rich profits to be made, is the cost too high?

Photo Credit: International Rivers (flickr)

International concerns about Lao’s plans to massively dam the Mekong River and its tributaries have again been brushed aside by the authorities in Vientiane who have announced new contracts worth about $1.0 billion to build three dams.

The dams will feed a hydropower plant on two tributaries of the Se Kong River, just 100 kilometers from Laos’ southern border with Cambodia. The Se Kong flows into the Mekong from the Bolaven Plateau which then feeds into the Lower Mekong Delta.

However, no environmental impact assessments are known to have been done and the incident has further stoked tensions between Laos and conservation groups and regional countries already angered with Vientiane and its attitude towards the construction of the U.S. $3.8 billion Xayaburi Dam to be built 150 kilometers downstream from the old royal capital city of Luang Prabang,

The Xe-Namnoy will be constructed by South Korean firm SK Engineering & Construction and will be aimed at producing 400 megawatts of electricity from water flowing from a height of 630 meters.

According to media reports, SK Construction expects to earn about U.S.$30 million a year from fees while the South Korean state-run firm Korean Western Power will operate the dam until 2045. After that control will be handed over to Laos.

More importantly, conservationists now say that Laos intends to build more than 70 dams along tributaries of the Mekong River, significantly higher than previously thought.

Plans for a possible 11 dams have long been known, but International Rivers says that of the 70 dams, eight were currently under construction on the Xe Kaman and Xe Kong rivers, another 15 are intended for the Sekong River basin and a further seven on the Nam Ou River.

Laos is enjoying a purple patch. The upcoming Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) will be the most important diplomatic event in Laos since the communist takeover in 1975. It is also on the verge of joining the World Trade Organization (WTO). Massive rail, road and airport projects are also in the works.

And authorities are convinced the tiny landlocked country will get rich quick by turning itself into the “battery of Asia” using its steep mountains and caverns and the abundant rivers that flow through them to feed hydropower plants which will produce enough electricity to allow Laos to export it to its neighbors.

However, independent reports on food security have been consistent. One prepared by the International Center for Environmental Management for the Mekong River Commission (MRC) found that 11 dams could cut fish resources by more than 40 percent.

The impact of 70 dams on the 60 million people who depend upon the Mekong for their livelihoods is impossible to measure at this stage and getting straight answers out of any of the countries involved has proven almost impossible.

The Mekong River countries– Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam– had agreed last December not to proceed with Xayaburi until a trans-boundary impact study was made among the communities living downstream.

The World Wildlife Fund and International Rivers want Xayaburi scrapped, labeling it an environmental disaster that will alter the river’s patterns and impact on fish catches.  This came amid increasing concerns over Chinese dams built further upstream that have already been blamed for recent droughts along the Mekong with water shortages causing conflict within farming communities.

Pressure from the United States and Australia – both significant financial backers of the MRC – added to the momentum over Xayaburi. Japan offered to fund the impact study but to date it has not been initiated. Laos paid lip service to these concerns but proceeded with construction anyway.

This probably has more to do with Thailand. Thai company C.H. Karnchang has been contracted to construct the 1,206-megawatt Xayaburi dam over the next eight years while the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) will buy 90 percent of the power on completion.

90 percent of the electricity generated at Xe-Namnoy will also be sold to Thailand while some reports suggest deals are being made to sell power to Cambodia.

This has changed the geopolitical makeup of the region with deals between Laos and Thailand upsetting traditional ties between Laos and Vietnam. Hanoi – with food security in the Mekong Delta as its primary concern – had been unusually vocal in its opposition to Xayaburi.

The controversy has also left its mark on the other side of the world. Finnish engineering company Pöyry Group produced a report claiming designs for Xayaburi had met dam construction standards as laid down by the MRC.  Cambodia and Vietnam rejected the report a year ago.

Pöyry was then forced to issue a public statement denying allegations made in a complaint filed to the Finnish government by 15 civil society groups claiming Pöyry had engaged in unethical behavior in the Mekong region.

They said Pöyry’s actions had violated OECD guidelines for Multination Enterprises, a global standard for corporate responsibility that all Finnish companies are obliged to adhere to.

Further, under the Laos government’s own laws regulating development projects it must publicly release all assessments made on such projects. Failure to release any reports on Xe-Namnoy would be a breach and should be a major concern for contractors and bankers prepared to sign off on the deal.

Only Laos seems unequivocal in its right to get rich quick by damning the Mekong. Few others with any modicum of common sense seem to agree.

Photo Credit: International Rivers (flickr)

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Mekong panel didn’t approve power deal

Click on the link to get more news and video from original source:  http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Mekong-panel-didnt-approve-power-deal-30189116.html

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Mekong panel didn’t approve power deal

August 27, 2012 1:00 am

Ref: “Xayaburi hydro project on schedule, Energy Ministry says”, Business, August 25.

I am writing to correct misleading statements in the article on the references to the Mekong River Commission.

The article says the power purchase agreement for the hydropower project has been signed by Egat and the developer and approved by the Mekong River Commission (MRC). I would like to clarify that the MRC does not and cannot approve any power purchase agreements for hydropower development projects proposed by its member countries. Consideration and approval of such agreements, project financing and other business aspects do not fall under the MRC’s role and responsibilities.

The MRC is not a regulatory or supranational body. As a regional, inter-governmental body, the role of the MRC in the prior consultation process for the proposed Xayaburi hydropower project is to facilitate regional dialogue and provide technical input and advice for the discussion on risks and benefits of such projects. We provide a platform for member countries to raise their concerns on, for example, impacts of the project on the livelihoods of the people and the environment and sustainability of the project. Through MRC the member countries can raise these concerns and work together to address issues of common interest.

The article also says the Laotian government suspended project construction on the Mekong but allowed inland work based on the MRC’s advice. I would like to clarify that the Lao delegation has informed other MRC member countries that the construction at the project site is the preparatory and exploratory work, not the construction of the dam itself. Laos has not stated that there was ongoing construction of the dam on the Mekong.

Hans Guttman

CEO, Mekong River Commission Secretariat

Vientiane

BY INVITATION: Saving energy means saving money as well as saving the mekong

 

Click on the link to get more news and video from original source:  http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/275315/saving-energy-means-saving-money-as-well-as-saving-the-mekong

• Published: 16/01/2012 at 12:00 AM
• Newspaper section: Business

In this very fast-changing region, few countries are changing faster than Laos. With economic growth of around 8%, the country is awakening and Vientiane is bustling with new developments, new trucks, and an even brighter outlook. Laos is finally catching up with its neighbours, and though this will take time, the pace and direction is undeniably clear and strong.

However, beneath this strong economic growth is a challenging story. Numerous rivers are being dammed for power production as Laos pursues its vision to become the “Battery of Asia”, and about 90% of this power is for export to Thailand and Vietnam.

Obviously Laos is not the only country growing in this region, and the demand for electricity is understandably strong. But the “Land of a Million Elephants” is becoming the “Land of 50 Dams” and that affects us all. This is because the dams are on the tributaries and water catchments of the great Mekong River. Indeed, according to the Mekong River Commission, nearly one-third of Thailand is actually in the Mekong River basin. The current dams in the Mekong basin produce around 1,600 megawatts yet the potential is estimated at 30,000 MW. And with around 60 million people depending on the Mekong for food, water, and transport the number of people directly linked to the river is huge _ approximately the same as the population of Thailand itself. And these dams will have an uncertain impact on this important inland fishery.

Electricity is vital for economic growth and it is vitally important for countries to have very reliable sources of high-quality power to drive their economies forward. But not all electricity has to be used in an inefficient way, and by getting serious about energy efficiency, the demand growth can be reduced. And this will mean that fewer dams are needed on the precious Mekong and its basin. Countries such as Thailand and Vietnam getting more strict about energy efficiency will better preserve the region’s key river.

But for Laos alone, the energy efficiency gains are still potentially huge. Clean and intelligent use of energy efficiency measures would mean that less power is needed. Then either more power could be available to speed up the rate of rural electrification, or more power could be exported. And this power exported could help pay for the many schools, hospitals and clinics needed in Laos and help lift it even more quickly out of Least Developed Country (LDC) status.

Companies in Laos also stand to benefit hugely from energy efficiency measures, which typically pay for themselves in three to five years. However, Sunlabob Renewable Energy, with its innovative and comprehensive efficiency services together with other such companies in this sector, has found far fewer market opportunities in Laos than expected.

It is easy to change a building, and relatively easy to change a river basin, but incredibly hard to change mindsets built up over many decades. But until we all take hold of realising that energy efficiency is at the heart of preserving the region’s main river, our beautiful environment and the hopes of our children, then the predictable damage will be done.

Economic growth is essential for Southeast Asia, with our fast-growing populations deserving to have strong economies to build their own futures. But it is not inevitable that growth must take place in a way that damages our environment unnecessarily.

Stringent energy efficiency measures are economically efficient and help drive that vital growth. But for country like Laos, energy efficiency could mean more schools, hospitals and clinics. It means taking hold of the lessons other countries previously learned, and not repeating their mistakes.

If we want to get serious about building the right future for the Mekong basin, we have to seriously change our mindset to be more serious about energy efficiency. And nowhere is that more needed than within Laos itself. Though electricity in Laos is cheap it is never free, and the cost of the decisions we fail to make now should not be paid for by future generations.

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Edward Allen is a technical programme coordinator at the Lao Institute for Renewable Energy and the technical adviser to Sunlabob Renewal Energy. He holds a BA in Geography from Oxford University, and an MSc and Diploma of Agriculture from Imperial College London (Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development). For more on renewable energy issues, see www.sunlabob.com

About the author

Writer: Edward Allen