Dong Nai 6 and 6A hydro-power projects: Where is the truth?
Dong Nai 6 and 6A hydro-power projects: Unfair game
The company’s investment director, Pham Hung, told the Daily on Thursday that his company had promised to minimize the projects’ impact on the forest so as to win investment licenses from the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
If approval is forthcoming, the firm will start work on the projects in the second quarter next year.
Scientists have in recent times voiced their objections to the two projects, indicating 372 hectares of forest would be chopped to make room for two reservoirs, with 137 hectares of it in Cat Tien National Park.
The hydropower plants, they said, will cause devastating consequences to the environment, eco-system, and forests in the Dong Nai River basin.
“We will garner opinions from scientists and Vietnam’s leading consultants to redo the environmental impact assessment for Dong Nai 6 and Dong Nai 6A in a way that will reduce the effect on Cat Tien National Park,” said Hung.
Nguyen Dinh Trac, Duc Long Gia Lai’s general director, has signed a memorandum of understanding with a foreign partner to develop the two projects with a total capacity of 241 MW under the clean development mechanism (CDM).
The foreign firm will buy certified emission reduction credits (CER) in these two projects with around 559,120 units each year from 2017. The price of CER depends on the scale of each project but often ranges from US$8 to US$16 each.
Gia Lai Province-based Duc Long Gia Lai Group is active in multiple sectors, including rubber, transport and hydropower. The firm is working on around 10 small hydropower plants nationwide with a total capacity of 600 megawatts and planning to invest in more projects in the future.
Opinion differs over Dong Nai hydropower projects
Scientists and administrators are still at odds over the environmental impact of Dong Nai 6 and Dong Nai 6A hydropower projects on the downstream of the Dong Nai River.
At a seminar on this issue held on Wednesday, many scientists and environmental experts stressed the deployment of these projects would adversely affect the environment, ecology and forest areas in the Dong Nai River basin.
In particular, Cat Tien National Park and Bau Sau site, boasting the biological diversity and serving as a habitat for rare wildlife, would be endangered, said Vo Van Chanh, deputy director of Dong Nai’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
The Dong Nai 6 and 6A hydropower plant projects are to be developed by Duc Long Gia Lai group with the total capacity of 241MW. According to the group’s environment statements for these projects, some 372 hectares of forest, including 137 hectares of Cat Tien National Park, will be encroached to build reservoirs.
Le Huy Ba of the Institute for Science-Technology and Environment Management said including these two power plants there would be 16 hydropower dams along the Dong Nai River. This may directly alter the landscape and obstruct fish migration, reducing fish reproduction and threatening the region’s food security.
Furthermore, Ba was concerned that the Dong Nai River would be stressed with the 16 big dams and dozens of small dams.
When these power plants start generating, the water flow to downstream area will be restricted, causing difficulties for water regulation of pumping stations in Dong Nai Province, said Mai Xuan Tri, head of Irrigation Division under the provincial department of agriculture and rural development.
Therefore, Tri proposed the project owner construct a joint reservoir operation process in the entire basin system of Dong Nai River. Then, a specific plan to discharge water in the dry season is needed to ensure sufficient water for irrigation and daily life and prevent salinity.
However, there were different ideas on the impact of Dong Nai 6 and 6A hydropower plants at the seminar, as some other threw their support behind the projects.
Phung Chi Sy of the Institute for Tropical Technology and Environment Protection said the two power plants are placed behind dams, hence causing no damage to the Dong Nai River.
The two reservoirs contain some 24 million cubic meters of water, which is not much and will be regulated daily. Therefore, the water flow will not be disrupted during the operation of these power plants, Sy added.
Lam Minh Triet, chairman of the Institute for Water and Environment Technology, said Dong Nai 6 and 6A power plants would have positive impacts on the water flow regulation of the Dong Nai River, as they would increase water source in the dry season and reduce flooding in the rainy season.
Vo Van Chanh of Dong Nai’s environment department told the Daily on the sidelines of the seminar that the department would gather opinions on the environment protection for submission to the Government for approval for these hydropower projects.
SGT
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