Page 4 - AsiaElec Week 36

AsiaElec COMMENTARY AsiaElec
SE Asia’s hydro potential
must balance power needs
and environmental damage
International observers are closely watching the boom in hydro projects on the Mekong River, where China’s Belt and Road ambitions and the region’s power politics collide, writes Richard Lockhart
SE ASIA
WHAT:
Testing at the Xayaburi Dam in Laos has intensified fears that it will damage the region’s environment
WHY:
Water levels could fall, damaging fish stocks and the river’s ecology
WHAT NEXT:
China, Laos and Thailand are all keen to develop the river’s hydro potential, although NGOs and some governments are sensitive to the dangers involved. Plans for massive dams continue to be developed
THE first of a new generation of massive hydro- power plants (HPPs) on the Mekong River has gone online in Laos, despite claims from envi- ronmental groups that giant dams will cause irreparable damage to the regional ecosystem.
The 1,285MW Xayaburi HPP has begun pro- ducing power and will reach maximum capac- ity in October after seven years of controversial construction.
The development comes after the 410-MW Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy HPP on the Mekong burst during heavy rainfall in the summer of 2018.
Since then, Southeast Asia’s hydro devel- opments have come under closer scrutiny, but Chinese, Thai and South Korean developers and governments in the Mekong Basin have contin- ued to drive hydro forward.
Laos in particular has made public its desire to become the battery of Southeast Asia by build- ing 100 dams by 2020.
Tipping point
“With this year’s drought and the contribution to lower river levels from the cumulative effects of upstream dams holding back water, I think that the so-called ecological tipping point of the Mekong might have already arrived; if not, it’s certainly fast approaching,” Brian Eyler, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Stimson Centre who heads the research group’s Mekong Policy Project, told Voice of America.
The Mekong currently boasts 11 smaller dams and hydro projects in China, but Xayaburi and a further 10 dams are planned downstream in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, south of Chi- nese territory.
“That means that the cumulative effects of these dams are creating processes that ulti- mately reduce the mightiness of the Mekong to a river that is harnessed and entirely managed, and therefore the natural properties of what the Mekong provides are stunted or potentially erased,” he said.
Up to 50mn people in the Mekong Basin rely on the river’s water for agriculture and fishing. The new wave of dams could damage the region’s fragile environment and ruin the livelihoods of local people, campaigners warn.
The Xayaburi’ HPP is operated by Thailand’s CK Power, which has refuted claims from com- munity groups and the Thai government that lower water flows and a regional drought have been caused by the dam.
Thai utility EGCO holds a 12.5% stake in the plants and has invested US$26.6mn in the project.
Redesign
The opening of the dam does follow some extra redesign and construction work at the site by the dam’s developer, Thailand’s Xayaburi Power, and the Lao government to create better fish flows.
Testing began at the dam in mid-July, and
the Thai government and international observ-
ers immediately identified the tests as one of the Up to 50mn reasons for record low water levels in the river.
VOA’s Eyler was sceptical of the changes
made, which would use cutting-edge technol-
ogy to open up the dam to allow flows of sed-
iment and fish through, thereby addressing a
key concern of environmentalists and the Thai
government itself. river’s water for
He said that the gates built into the dam to let river sediment through could work in theory. But the more they stay open, the less power the dam can generate.
He was doubtful the Xayaburi could generate enough power to sell the 1,280MW it has prom- ised Thailand, its main customer, while also let- ting enough sediment pass to keep the Mekong Basin properly replenished.
He also said that the fish ladders would not be big enough to handle the large numbers of fish that typically swim through the site at Xayaburi.
“The Mekong is dying the death of a
agriculture and fishing
people in the Mekong Basin rely on the
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 36 10•September•2019