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BANGKOK: Laos submitted plans to build a new hydroelectric dam on the Mekong River, and construction is expected to begin later this year, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) said on Monday (May 11).
The Sanakham hydroelectric plant, with an estimated cost of US $ 2,073 billion, will be developed by the hydroelectric power company Datang Sanakham, a subsidiary of China’s Datang International Power Generation, MRC said.
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The development of hydroelectric power is central to the Laos government’s plan to export around 20,000 megawatts of electricity to its neighbors by 2030, and the latest project would be the sixth proposal for nine planned Mekong dams within Laos.
READ: Southeast Asia hydroelectric boom halts as COVID-19 halts projects
Laos has completed two dams on the Mekong River, the 1,285 megawatt Xayaburi Dam and the 260 megawatt Don Sahong Dam last year, despite objections from environmental groups.
Objectors said the dams threaten a river system whose fisheries, sediments and seasonal flooding for agriculture support some 60 million people.
The Sanakham proposed site is located 155 km north of Vientiane, the capital of Laos, and is projected to produce 684 megawatts of electricity once it starts operating in 2028.
The Sanakham Dam is the sixth project that has been submitted to the prior consultation process with the MRC, an intergovernmental agency that works with regional governments.
China has financed numerous hydroelectric projects within Laos, and has built 11 dams on the upper reaches of the Mekong River within Chinese territory that have come under scrutiny for allegedly disrupting the river’s natural flow.
The Sanakham project will now have to go through an MRC prior consultation process, which normally lasts six months, where other MRC members, including Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, can review the project and assess any cross-border impacts.
While they may suggest changes, the MRC consultation process cannot veto any projects.
