Page 13 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL10

DAMS OF INIQUITYWith a number of hydropower projects on the agenda in Laos, how will local and downstream communities be af- fected? Are they clean and sustainable energy sources? Clues can be found in the repercussions of the NT2 dam, operating since 2010As the clock ticks down to the commencement of the AEC, a hiccup is being felt in the Mekong Sub-Region, comprising Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.Laos is ignoring calls to delay construction of the Don Sahoeng Dam on a tributary of the Mekong River in lower Laos. Neighbours worry the project will affect river ecology, since the dam will block fish migration routes to the Tonle Sap lake in Cambodia and the soil sediment enriching farmland in Vietnam. Lowering the freshwater table will also induce seawater intrusion into Vietnamese rice fields.It is not the first time Vientiane has turned a deaf ear to complaints, likewise ignoring concerns from Vietnam and Cambodia over the Xayaburi Dam. Laos has nine further dam projects in the pipeline, while Cambodia has plans of its own to build two dams on the Mekong.Surrounded by competitive neighbours such as Vietnam, Thailand or economically surging Cambodia, the Lao PDR would be an unlikely manufacturing base. But the country is blessed with rivers and mountainous terrain that make it feasible to produce electricity for export. Dams cause many ecological repercussions when rivers are diverted and thinned, however. The Mekong has much biodiversity, with abundant fish stocks providing an affordable protein source and income for fishermen. Sediment carried by the river to the nutrient-rich delta in Vietnam enables the country to be a major rice exporter. The Mekong is a lifeline for 60 million people in Southeast Asia.The World“Bank,a development fundingBut are dams a cure for poverty in Laos? Is hydropower a sustainable energy source that can ease dependence on fossil fuels, a major culprit of climate change? Is it possible to build a “better dam” on the Mekong as Laos seeks to become the battery of Southeast Asia? Answers to these questions may be found by looking at Nam Thuen 2, a large hydropower dam on the Thuen River.Nam Theun 2, or NT2, is the largest hydroelectric dam so far in Laos. Conceived in 2005, the project cost US$2.3 billion and started selling electricity to Thailand in 2010. The scheme diverts water from the Nam Theun, a tributary of the Mekong, to the Xe Bang Fai River, generating 1,070 MW of electricity through the difference in elevation.The World Bank, a development funding agency, describes the project as demonstrating “the potential of hydropower development to reduce poverty and achieve shared prosperity”.The project has been much criticized, however, including by Thayer Scudder,agency, describes the project as demonstrating ‘the potential of hydropower development to reduce povertyand achieve sharedprosperity”’Elite+ 11