Mekong Eye - News, analysis and opinion focusing on the environment and sustainability of the Mekong region

17 April 2017 at 3:07  (Updated on 11 January 2024 at 1:22)
Mekong Watch
From 5-7 January 2017, Mekong Watch visited villages affected by the Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project in Lao PDR. We visited and conducted interviews with 16 households in 6 villages relocated from the reservoir area on the Nakai Plateau, as well as 11 households of the 2 villages downstream on the Xe Bang Fai River.
It became clear that not all affected residents at the resettled villages had sufficient access to irrigation facilities, supplementary land compensation and job training. We also saw growing disparity between rich and poor within the villages. Although the closing period for the Resettlement Implementation Period (RIP) was extended for two years until the end of 2017, we see no clear evidence of its effectiveness, and the path to long-term livelihood restoration is still uncertain.
On the Xe Bang Fai River’s downstream, the disastrous impacts to the fishing industry continue, and we learned that villagers were being detained by authorities due to debt incurred using the village restoration funds that were set up as compensation programs.
Read the full report at: http://www.mekongwatch.org/PDF/NT2FieldReportJan2017.pdf
Nam Theun 2 Dam has been constructed for hydroelectric power generation in the central part of Lao PDR, a landlocked country in Southeast Asia. The Nam Theun 2 Power Company (NTPC), the project operator, is a joint investment with Electricité de France holding 40%, Lao Holding State Enterprise holding 25%, and Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand’s subsidiary company, Electricity Generating Public Company Limited, holding 35% share. Nam Theun 2 is the biggest public project in Laos with the total project cost of approximately US $ 1.45 billion, almost equivalent to one quarter of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.  The dam is 48 metres high, and 450 square kilometres of the Nakai Plateau’s wetlands was submerged to make a way for the dam’s reservoir. The project has the capacity of generating 1,070 megawatt of electricity, 995 megawatt of which is sold to Thailand with the rest consumed domestically. The project aims to reduce Laos PDR’s poverty with revenues obtained from electricity sales.
See more information on our Nam Theun 2 page:
http://www.mekongwatch.org/english/country/laos/nt2.html
This is a resource made available by The Mekong Eye. The information represents the views of the author only. ADB’s photo can be found here.