Page 5 - AsiaElec Week 36

AsiaElec COMMENTARY AsiaElec
thousand cuts by having these dams go up,” Eyler said.
Over-capacity
However, there are concerns that the large num- ber of dams proposed for the Mekong would create far too much generating capacity in Southeast Asia.
The dams’ main customer, Thailand, as well as Cambodia are also pushing renewable energy, especially solar, in a bid to diversify their energy sectors.
The Cambodian government, for example, recently said it wanted 20% of its power needs to come from solar, and was considering abandon- ing two hydro projects currently on the drawing board.
Thailand is also looking to push green energy, and currently has unused gas-fired generating capacity that it cannot use as domestic gas pro- duction falls.
Thai interests
Thai and Chinese companies are the main drivers of hydro development on the Mekong. As well as Xayaburi, ECGO also aims to inject $78mn into the 640MW Nam Theun 1 hydro project in Laos, where it owns 25%.
Thai investment on the Mekong also allows Thai companies to invest abroad, as major power projects in their home market are being revisited by a government that is worried about over-ex- posure to fossil fuel generation.
Privately owned ECGO – although
government utility EGAT holds 25% – now runs 5,154MW of capacity in six countries across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.
Meanwhile, China’s Sinhydro is pushing ahead, supported by the Lao government, with its construction of the 770MW Pak Lay HPP, which is backed by Chinese state loans of $1.7bn.
Lack of transparency
A combination of Chinese and Thai strategic interests and investment cash, combined with governments in Myanmar and Laos eager to drive forward development by connecting more people to power supplies, is creating a risky situa- tion where economic progress must be balanced by the threat of ecological disaster.
The Mekong region forms part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which makes cheap Chinese credit available for major infrastructure schemes developed by Chinese contractors.
Indeed, in Laos levels of political and eco- nomic transparency are low. The country was heavily criticised by the UN and other interna- tional bodies in the aftermath of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy disaster in 2018 for continuing its hydro construction programme, as well as for its slow response in providing aid to survivors.
A UN report at the time noted that 80% of the population lived on less than $2.50 per day, and a quarter of the population remains below the official poverty line. Hydro developments were failing to reduce poverty while enriching an elite minority and pushing up national debt.™
The Lower Sesan 2 Dam in Cambodia,
Thai and Chinese companies are the main drivers of hydro development on the Mekong
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