A Thai company planning to build a $2.8 billion power plant says its advanced technology will prevent damage to the environment, but nearby residents are sceptical.
Tag: Salween river
Groups blast planned hydropower project in Shan State
Civic groups in Shan State lambasted a plan by the Myanmar government and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to build a hydroelectric power project in the state.
“My Spirit is There”: Life in The Shadow of The Mong Ton Dam
Before reaching the Keng Kham valley, the bright green Pang river, the Salween’s major tributary running south through central Shan state, splits into three parallel rivers that form myriad channels creating islands and islets, blurring the line between forests and water in a pristine and biodiverse riverscape. Rarely seen by outsiders, these are the famed “thousand islands,” forming a stunning inland delta that gives the “Kunhing” township its name. To the south, the Pang meets the Salween in a cascade of waterfalls. Seen from the air, white water tumbles down through verdant forested islands on an escarpment hundreds of meters long.
Govt sidesteps controversial Thanlwin in hydropower push
U Htay Aung, deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Electric Power and Energy, told The Myanmar Times last week that the projects – the Shweli (3), Upper Yeywa and Upper Kyaing Taung dams – are seen by the ministry as a means of meeting energy-deprived Myanmar’s electricity needs, while noting that the earliest expected completion dates were 2020.
Along with a fourth dam under construction in Rakhine State and a fifth in Nay Pyi Taw’s Pyinmana township, the projects’ electricity generation will total more than 1500 megawatts, he said, nearly half of Myanmar’s current installed capacity nationwide.
Mon group opposes dam planned for Salween River
Mon activists yesterday attacked dam projects slated for the Salween River, releasing a report about the potential negative impacts.
“Given the recently renewed plans by the Myanmar government and Thai investors to build the controversial Hatgyi dam, our downstream communities share extreme concerns with all the other communities along the Salween about the impact of the dam on our livelihood and the environment,” said Mi Ah Chai, one of the lead researchers on the report by the Mon Youth Progressive Organisation.
The announcement that 1360-megawatt Hatgyi project would be resumed was made on August 12 by Ministry of Electric Power permanent secretary U Htein Lwin.
The grand vision for mainland China’s Nu River can become a model for the region
China’s slowing economy would not seem a good time to scrap hydroelectric dam projects. That would seem especially so in southwest Yunnan’s Nu River valley, among the nation’s poorest regions. Yet provincial authorities have decided to put the way of life of villagers and the environment first by calling a halt to small-scale schemes. It is a hopeful sign for those in the area and downstream in Myanmar and Thailand who rely on the waters for their livelihoods.
The valley is a Unesco World Heritage site included for its scenery and biodiversity, accounting for 6,000 different types of plants and half of China’s animal and fish species. Plans in 2004 for a 13-dam cascade to be built in the upper reaches of the Nu were shelved under pressure the following year, but revived in 2013 on a lesser scale with an eye on meeting national renewal energy targets. The province’s Communist Party chief, Li Jiheng, said earlier this month that projects for coal mines and small hydro plants beside the river and on tributaries would not go ahead. In five to 10 years, with vegetation restored, the valley would be a tourist attraction rivaling the US’ Grand Canyon.