Laos Dams and Reservoirs

[AsianDragons]

post about dams such as Nam theun and Nam theun 2, and reservoirs

[AsianDragons]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reservo...d_dams_in_Laos

[AsianDragons]

http://www.namtheun2.com/

[AsianDragons]

[AsianDragons]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nam_Theun_2_Dam

[AsianDragons]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_...sin_Hydropower

[napoleon]

Ch Karnchang signs Xayaburi project deal

The Nation April 18, 2012 1:00 am

Despite the current row over the future of the Xayaburi hydropower project in Laos, Ch Karnchang has made another move to bring it to fruition.

The contractor yesterday informed the Stock Exchange of Thailand that its subsidiary, Ch Karnchang (Lao) Co, had signed a Bt51.8-billion engineering, procurement and construction contract for the Xayaburi hydroelectric power plant with Xayaburi Power Co.

Established in 2010 with initial capital of Bt800 million, Xayaburi Power is a subsidiary of Ch Karnchang. It holds a concession for the 1.28-gigawatt power project, which is estimated to cost Bt115 billion.

Ch Karnchang's stock closed at Bt8.10 yesterday, unchanged from the previous closing price. It hit Bt8.30 per share during the day.

Plew Trivisvavet, chief executive officer of Ch Karnchang, said construction was scheduled to commence on March 15 for completion in 96 months. When it starts up, 95 per cent of the output would be sold to Thailand.

The project faces stiff protests from environmentalists who fear that the dam above the Mekong River would affect the ecological system and millions of villagers. The Mekong River Commission (MRC), comprising Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, in 2010 agreed to subject this mainstream dam to approval by the region's governments through a regional decision-making process called the "Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement".

Because of the massive risk and impacts associated with the Xayaburi and other Mekong mainstream dams, a strategic environmental assessment published in October 2010 by the MRC recommends that decision-making on these dams be deferred for 10 years.

Last December, the four governments met again and agreed to postpone the decision over Xayaburi until a joint study on the trans-boundary impacts of the Mekong mainstream dams was carried out.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/busi...-30180147.html

[AsianDragons]

http://www.gaupalao.com/nam-ngum-2-power-co-ltd-2/

[AsianDragons]

http://www.gaupalao.com/nam-ngum-2-power-co-ltd/

[AsianDragons]

Laos to boost hydro-electricity output by a quarter



Deutsche Presse-Agentur July 5, 2012 7:27 pm

Vientiane (dpa) - Laos plans to boost electricity output by 26 per cent next year, state media reported Thursday.





According to the Ministry of Planning, the completion of four new dams by the end of 2012 should boost the country’s electricity output by 664 megawatts, the Vientiane Times reported.

Laos currently has 17 operational hydropower plants with a power production capacity of about 2,560 megawatts.

The land-locked country exports an estimated 64 per cent of its electricity to neighbouring Thailand, but imports electricity from Thailand, China and Vietnam to meet its domestic needs.

The government says it hopes to end electricity imports by 2015.

About 78 per cent of households in Laos have access to electricity.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/busi...-30185600.html

[Wisarut]

Lao needs more dam to earn more hard currency from both Thailand and Mainland China as well as to give the real power to drive the proposed High Speed Train with China

[everywhere]

Work restarts at Xayaburi dam in Laos -project leader
(Yahoo News/Reuters, Aug. 16)

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Work has resumed on a controversial $3.5 billion dam across the Mekong River in Laos, its Thai developer said on Thursday, contradicting Laotian assurances it had been suspended following protests over its environmental impact.

Laos agreed in December to suspend the Xayaburi dam project and said on July 13 work had stopped after neighbors' Cambodia and Vietnam repeatedly expressed concern that the 1,285 megawatt dam would harm migratory fish and the livelihood of downstream villages.

"We are still working on the project. We haven't received a formal letter from the Lao government that we should suspend or put the project on hold," Plew Trivisvavet, Chief Executive Officer at Thailand's Ch Karnchang Pcl, told reporters. The government of Laos made no immediate comment.

more: http://omg.yahoo.com/news/restarts-x...96.html?_esi=1

[napoleon]

Xayaburi hydro project on schedule, Energy Ministry says

The Nation August 25, 2012 1:00 am

The Xayaburi hydropower project is on schedule to begin supplying electricity in 2019, as the Laotian government has given no written notice of its cancellation or postponement, said Norkun Sitthiphong, permanent secretary of the Thai Energy Ministry.

The Xayaburi hydropower project is on schedule to begin supplying electricity in 2019, as the Laotian government has given no written notice of its cancellation or postponement, said Norkun Sitthiphong, permanent secretary of the Thai Energy Ministry.

He confirmed this after confusing reports in the past few months over the progress of the project.

Laos said it would update neighbouring countries, which are concerned about environmental impacts along the Mekong River, on the progress of the project and heed their advice. But Vietnamese officials said they had not received any such information.

On August 7, conservationists and residents from eight Thai provinces along the Mekong River lodged a petition with the Administrative Court against the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), the Energy Ministry and the Cabinet over their involvement with the Xayaburi dam. Much of the 1,285 megawatts of power from the US$3.8billion (Bt127billion) project will be sold to Thailand, as part of the country's revised Power Development Plan (PDP 2010).

Norkun said yesterday that the ministry had not been notified in writing by the Laotian government of cancellation or postponement of the project. He also expressed confidence that the power feed would begin on schedule, around October 2019.

"The Xayaburi power plant plays a crucial role in Thailand's power development. Aside from reasonable prices, hydropower also helps Thailand reduce its dependence on natural gas for power generation," he said.

He said the power purchase agreement signed by Egat and the developer had been approved by the Mekong River Commission (MRC), as required by the National Energy Policy Council. It was also screened by the Office of the AttorneyGeneral and disclosed to the public. He expects the project developer to clear up any further doubts.

The project is being developed by Xayaburi Power, which is 50 per cent owned by Ch Karnchang, 12.5 per cent by Electricity Generating (Egco Group), 25 per cent by Natee Synergy, 7 per cent by Bangkok Expressway, and 5 per cent by PT Construction and Irrigation. Natee Synergy is a subsidiary owned by PTT International. Ch Karnchang on April 17 signed a $2.4billion contract with Xayaburi Power.

Sahust Pratuknukul, president of Egco Group, said construction of the project had kicked off and his company had put in its investment. However, the construction work so far has focused on inland infrastructure such as roads, not yet reaching the Mekong River.

He said he was confident that the project would be ready for commercial operation in 2019 and that Xayaburi Power could clear up any points of concern.

Under the 29year power purchase contract, Egat will pay a fixed price for electricity. The average price of Bt2.16 per kilowatthour throughout the period at the border point of sale is lower than the Bt2.90 per kilowatthour for power from a coalfired plant and Bt4.30 from a gasfired plant.

On advice from the MRC, the Laotian government in May decided to suspend construction on the Mekong but allowed inland work.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/busi...-30189040.html

[AsianDragons]

Lao dam breaks ground
Tuesday, 04 September 2012 Shane Worrell



Xayaburi dam construction site in northern Laos. Photograph: Phnom Penh Post
A waterfall has been blasted less than two kilometres from the Cambodian-Lao border, beginning work on another unapproved hydroelectric dam on the Mekong river, environmental group International Rivers claimed yesterday.

Pianporn Deetes, the Thailand campaign coordinator for International Rivers, said she had learned of the excavation work, near Khone Falls, the largest in South East Asia, during a recent visit to Champasak province, where the Lao government proposes to build the Don Sahong hydroelectric dam.

“Villagers reported that the dam builders have already blasted a waterfall near the [dam] site,” she said, adding this happened late last year. “Lao officials have told the villagers that they will not be allowed to fish with Ly fishing gear [large bamboo traps] in the area beginning in 2014.”

Currently, fish are able to migrate downstream through Laos and into Cambodia through the 50- to 100-metre-wide Hou Sahong channel year-round; however, the Lao government will block this migration avenue, diverting fish through an alternative five metre-wide passage where the blasted waterfall had been.

“The dam’s construction, and the end of Ly fishing, is a major concern because local people depend so heavily on fishing for their livelihoods,” Deetes said.

Although much less powerful than the proposed 1,285 megawatt Xayaburi dam in northern Laos, Don Sahong, which could have a capacity of 380 megawatts, would also threaten Cambodian fishing communities downstream because of its potential to block the Hou Sahong channel, the only section of the Mekong that fish pass through during the dry season, IR said.

The Malaysian company Mega First Corporation is contracted to build Don Sahong, but fellow Mekong River Commission states Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand have not agreed to the project – a requirement under a 1995 pact.

Ame Trandem, Southeast Asia program director for IR, said the Don Sahong dam would be disastrous for the Mekong river’s fisheries: “Like the Xayaburi dam, the impacts would be trans-boundary.”

Villagers living near the Don Sahong dam site had reported that Mega First had blasted the waterfall in order to create a small fish passage, she said.

“The Lao government should immediately clarify the current status of the Don Sahong dam and provide an update on the channel excavation work that has occurred in the Khone Falls,” Trandem said.

When contacted yesterday, a Mega First Corporation employee who declined to give his name said construction of the dam was a long way off.

“We have definitely not begun building this dam,” he said. “We haven’t even appointed a contractor.”

The company had not undertaken any work at the site and still needed approval for the project from the MRC, he said. “There will be nothing until the end of next year.”

Trandem said she was concerned the Lao government would say work at the site was “preparatory”, as it had with work at the unapproved Xayaburi dam.

Cambodian National Mekong Committee secretary-general Te Navuth said he was shocked to hear of work at the Don Sahong site.

“We understand this project is one of 11 planned on the [Mekong’s] main stream . . . but I am surprised to hear this name mentioned now,” he said, adding that he had received no recent information about it.

The Lao ministries of foreign affairs and water resources and environment could not be reached for comment.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.p...ks-ground.html

[AsianDragons]

[AsianDragons]

Second Mekong Dam Awaits Nod

2012-10-18
A Lao energy official says construction on the Pak Beng dam is pending approval from the government.

AFP
A stretch of the Mekong River near Pak Beng in Laos near the Thai border, Oct. 16, 2009.
Developers of a second dam proposed on the Mekong River in Laos have completed the design and impact assessment for the project and are awaiting the government green light to proceed with construction, according to an energy official.

The Pak Beng dam, to be located north of Luang Prabang in northwestern Laos’ Oudomxay province, was designed by Chinese developer Datang Overseas Investment Co., Ltd. through a memorandum of understanding between the Lao and Chinese governments signed in August 2007.

Construction on the project is only awaiting a nod from the government, a source from the Lao Ministry of Energy and Mining told RFA’s Lao service, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“It’s a Mekong dam. The design and everything else has been completed,” the source said.

“We’re just waiting for the government’s agreement to proceed.”

The dam will cost U.S. $1.88 billion to complete and generate 1,300 megawatts of energy when operable. The dam is estimated to be online by 2018 if the government allows construction to proceed.

If approved, the dam would be the second project of its kind on the Mekong River in Laos after the controversial Xayaburi dam for which initial construction work had already begun, despite opposition from environmentalists and neighboring nations.

Resource-starved Laos hopes to become the “battery” of Southeast Asia by selling hydroelectric power to its neighbors.

In September, Lao energy minister Soulivong Daravong said that the government would not shelve plans to build the U.S. $3.5 billion Xayaburi dam—the first of 11 proposed dams on the main stream of the Lower Mekong River.

Two months earlier, Lao Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith announced at a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that the project had been put off pending further studies.

But official media in Laos has said the government would allow developer Ch. Karnchang, a Thai company, to proceed with “scheduled” activities at the construction site, including the resettlement of affected villagers.

The dam has drawn criticism from neighbors Cambodia and Vietnam, which have jointly urged Laos to suspend the project to allow more time for a comprehensive review.

In August, a group of Thai villagers opposed to the dam submitted a lawsuit against five Thai government agencies, saying the government should not have agreed to purchase electricity from the dam without further study.

The project is being financed by a consortium of Thai banks.

The Mekong River Commission (MRC), an intergovernmental body including Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam which manages development along Southeast Asia's main waterway, had also ruled that the dam project should not proceed until further assessment was conducted.

The decision followed an earlier recommendation by an expert study group for a 10-year moratorium on all mainstream Mekong dams due to a need for further research on their potentially catastrophic environmental and socioeconomic impact.


http://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos...012181106.html

[napoleon]

Laos approves Mekong dam despite objections

Published: 6/11/2012 at 12:10 AM Online news: Economics

VIENTIANE: The Lao government has approved the construction of the US$3.5-billion Xayaburi dam on the Mekong River despite objections from environmentalists, said a senior official Monday.

"We will have a ground-breaking ceremony in Xayaburi on Wednesday," said Viraphonh Viravong, deputy minister of energy and mines.

The ceremony will mark the beginning of work in the river bed, with construction on access roads and facilities already under way.

The hydroelectric project is to be the first run-of-river dam to be built on the lower Mekong. Four dams have already been built on the upper Mekong in China.



The project has been criticised by environmentalists, neighbouring countries and downstream riverside communities for its possible impact on the flow of sediments and fish migration.

An organisation called the Network of Thai People in Eight Mekong Provinces held a flotilla protest Monday of 45 boats on the Thai side of the river in Nong Khai, across from Vientiane which is currently hosting the Asia-Europe Meeting that has drawn about 50 Asian and European leaders to the Lao capital.

"We want the visiting leaders to be aware of the Xayaburi dam project and the impact it is going to have on people living downstream," said the network's spokeswoman Pianporn Deetes.

"We've already seen a negative impact from the Chinese dams on the upper Mekong in terms of greater fluctuations in the river's flow."

There are 10 more dams planned on the lower Mekong, Southeast Asia's longest river and one of the world's richest sources of fish, worth an estimated $2 billion per annum.

Last December, members of the Mekong River Commission's council, consisting of water and environment ministers from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, urged a delay to allow further environmental research.

In response, the Lao government and its chief partner in the project, Thailand's Ch Karnchang Plc, agreed to spend an additional $100 million to revamp the design of a fish ladder and sediment flow gates.

The recommendations were made by project consultants Poyry of Finland and the French Compagnie Nationale du Rhone and incorporated into a new design for the project.

"They have no more serious complaints on the redesign of the dam," said Mr Viraphonh of Laos' neighbours.

The country already has 13 hydroelectric plants in operation with a total capacity for 3,000 megawatts.

The Xayaburi project, to be operational by 2019, will be one of its largest, with more than 90% of its electricity to be exported to neighbouring Thailand.

"Xayaburi is a very good project," he said. "The financing is there and if we don't go ahead what are we expected to do? Solar farming? It's too expensive."

Pienporn Deetes, International Rivers' campaign coordinator for Thailand, criticised the Lao's government decision to go ahead with construction.

Villagers downstream will be severely affected by the dam, she told the Bangkok Post, adding cross-border impacts will be greater after the construction, including ecological damage and the effect on the livelihood of people along the river.

"What we wanted to see was a decision based on knowledge rather than economic and political reasons," said Ms Pienporn. "This is not a project that will bring about sustainability for people in the region."

She rejected the revamped environmental report,saying it was hastily written with no consultation from downstream members. "We've never seen the study," she added.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/...ite-objections

[napoleon]

Thai govt suports Xayaburi dam

Published: 6/11/2012 at 04:58 PM Online news:

The Thai government on Tuesday supported Vientiane's decision to begin immediate construction of the controversial Xayaburi hydropower dam on the lower Mekong River - which downstream communities and environmentalists have strongly opposed.

''The Thai government is not opposed to the project,'' said Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichachaikul, speaking at the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting in Vientiane, Laos.

''The Lao government has already conducted studies that show there would be no impact on the environment and fisheries,'' Mr Surapong said

Laos will hold a ground-breaking ceremony on Wednesday in Xayaburi province to mark the start of riverbed construction on the 120-billion-baht project.

The date was chosen to commemorate the 95th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, still a significant date in communist Laos which used to be a member of the Soviet bloc, government sources said.

In December, members of the Mekong River Commission's council, consisting of water and environment ministers from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, urged a delay to allow further studies on how to mitigate the environmental impact of the dam, the first proposed for the lower Mekong.

In response, Laos and its chief partner in the project, Thailand's Ch Karnchang Plc, agreed to spend an additional 100 million dollars to revamp the design of a fish ladder and sediment flow gates.

Lao Deputy Energy and Mines Minister Viraphonh Viravong said the redesign has satisfied all parties, including Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.

''There is no need for their formal approval,'' Mr Viraphonh said of Laos' neighbours that share the Mekong as a valuable natural resource. So far, only Thailand has openly expressed its support of the project.

In the past, the Xayaburi project faced strong opposition from neighbouring governments and environmentalist groups who raised questions about its impact on sediment flows downstream and fish migration.

The lower Mekong Basin has a fisheries sector worth an estimated 78 billion baht per year.

``The food security and jobs of millions of people in the region are now on the line,'' said Ame Trandem, Southeast Asia program director for International Rivers.

``Laos has never even collected basic information about the ways that people depend on the river, so how can it say that there will be no impacts?'' Ms Trandem said.

Ultimately, the decision to go ahead with the project lies with Laos, as the dam site is in Lao territory.

''Laos wants to build the Xayaburi dam to increase it's electricity exports to Thailand,'' Mr Surapong said. ''That's what Laos wants, and the dam is inside Lao territory.''

The country already has 13 hydroelectric plants in operation with a total capacity for 3,000 megawatts.

The Xayaburi project, to be operational by 2019, will be one of its largest, with more than 90% of its electricity to be exported to neighbouring Thailand.

http://bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/...s-xayaburi-dam

[Wisarut]

Now, those hydroelectric power is not just for hard currency by exportation, it has been spent to fuel the Bauxite extraction/refinery for aluminium along with gold refinery and copper refinery to feed Chinese industry though ...

[Wisarut]

Need more local people to participate in the construction of xayaburi Dam
http://www.rfa.org/lao/news-about-la...012112220.html

Who reap the real benefits from xayaburi dam?
http://www.rfa.org/lao/news-about-la...012122501.html

Filing the case against xayaburi dam to Admin Court
http://www.rfa.org/lao/news-about-la...012140832.html

Asking to reveal the way to install power line from xayaburi Dam
http://www.rfa.org/lao/news-about-la...012132004.html

12 Billion Baht Investment to install power line from xayaburi Dam
http://www.rfa.org/lao/news-about-la...012152526.html